Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010

Background: Little is known about primary care physicians prescribing of opioids in the United Kingdom (UK). In the United State, it has been reported that increasing trends in opioid prescribing was also associated with increasing incidence of dependence and misuse, higher healthcare resources and...

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Main Authors:	Zin, Che Suraya, Chen, Li-Chia, Knaggs, Roger D.
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	RS Pharmacy and materia medica
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/53839/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/53839/1/ISPE_Barcelona_1.pdf

id	iium-53839
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-538392017-03-16T03:16:21Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/53839/ Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010 Zin, Che Suraya Chen, Li-Chia Knaggs, Roger D. RS Pharmacy and materia medica Background: Little is known about primary care physicians prescribing of opioids in the United Kingdom (UK). In the United State, it has been reported that increasing trends in opioid prescribing was also associated with increasing incidence of dependence and misuse, higher healthcare resources and higher death rate. Objective: This on-going study evaluated the prescribing trends of strong opioid analgesics for the treatment of pain in the UK primary care setting. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using General Practice Research Database (GPRD) which is a large computerized database from 639 primary care practices throughout the UK from January 2000 to December 2010. Data were obtained from all patients prescribed a strong opioid-containing drug (buprenorphine, fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone) for pain management by using specific product codes. Total number of prescriptions for each drug was calculated. Descriptive statistics and simple linear regression were used to analyse proportion and yearly change in the number of prescriptions Results: A total of 2.77 million prescriptions were identified for all studied durgs over the 11 years period. The prevalence of morphine prescriptions was increased from 16 per 1000 prescriptions in 2000 to 78 per 1000 prescriptions in 2010, a statistically significant trend (p = 0.000). There were also statistically significant increased for fentanyl (2.5 to 31 per 1000 prescriptions), buprenorphine (2.4 to 43 per 1000 prescriptions) and oxycodone (0.3 to 36 per 1000 prescriptions) during the study period. Among the most common opioid containing-products prescribed for each type of drug were Oramoph® (morphine) oral solution 10mg/5ml (22%), Butrans® (buprenorphine) patches 5mcg (14%), fentanyl patches 25 mcg (26%) and Oxycontin® (oxycodone) modified release tablets 10 mg (12%). Conclusion: This preliminary study showed that the prescribing trend for strong opioid analgesics in the UK has increased significantly in the past eleven years. Further studies are required to better understand the reasons for and consequences of this trend. 2012 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/53839/1/ISPE_Barcelona_1.pdf Zin, Che Suraya and Chen, Li-Chia and Knaggs, Roger D. (2012) Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010. In: 28th International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology and Therapeutic Risk Management, 23rd-26th August 2012, Barcelona, Spain. (Unpublished)
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	RS Pharmacy and materia medica
spellingShingle	RS Pharmacy and materia medica Zin, Che Suraya Chen, Li-Chia Knaggs, Roger D. Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010
description	Background: Little is known about primary care physicians prescribing of opioids in the United Kingdom (UK). In the United State, it has been reported that increasing trends in opioid prescribing was also associated with increasing incidence of dependence and misuse, higher healthcare resources and higher death rate. Objective: This on-going study evaluated the prescribing trends of strong opioid analgesics for the treatment of pain in the UK primary care setting. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using General Practice Research Database (GPRD) which is a large computerized database from 639 primary care practices throughout the UK from January 2000 to December 2010. Data were obtained from all patients prescribed a strong opioid-containing drug (buprenorphine, fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone) for pain management by using specific product codes. Total number of prescriptions for each drug was calculated. Descriptive statistics and simple linear regression were used to analyse proportion and yearly change in the number of prescriptions Results: A total of 2.77 million prescriptions were identified for all studied durgs over the 11 years period. The prevalence of morphine prescriptions was increased from 16 per 1000 prescriptions in 2000 to 78 per 1000 prescriptions in 2010, a statistically significant trend (p = 0.000). There were also statistically significant increased for fentanyl (2.5 to 31 per 1000 prescriptions), buprenorphine (2.4 to 43 per 1000 prescriptions) and oxycodone (0.3 to 36 per 1000 prescriptions) during the study period. Among the most common opioid containing-products prescribed for each type of drug were Oramoph® (morphine) oral solution 10mg/5ml (22%), Butrans® (buprenorphine) patches 5mcg (14%), fentanyl patches 25 mcg (26%) and Oxycontin® (oxycodone) modified release tablets 10 mg (12%). Conclusion: This preliminary study showed that the prescribing trend for strong opioid analgesics in the UK has increased significantly in the past eleven years. Further studies are required to better understand the reasons for and consequences of this trend.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Zin, Che Suraya Chen, Li-Chia Knaggs, Roger D.
author_facet	Zin, Che Suraya Chen, Li-Chia Knaggs, Roger D.
author_sort	Zin, Che Suraya
title	Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010
title_short	Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010
title_full	Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010
title_fullStr	Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010
title_full_unstemmed	Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010
title_sort	prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by uk primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010
publishDate	2012
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/53839/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/53839/1/ISPE_Barcelona_1.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:16:10Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:16:10Z
_version_	1777411576791302144

Prescribing of strong opioid analgesics by UK primary care physicians from 2000 to 2010

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