The Trends in Opioid Use in Castile and Leon, Spain: A Population-Based Registry Analysis of Dispensations in 2015 to 2018

Abstract

Opioids are driving-impairing medicines (DIM). To assess the evolution and trends of opioid analgesics use between 2015 and 2018 in Castile and Leon (Spain), a population-based registry study was conceived. The length of opioid use and its concomitant use with other DIMs were studied. Analyses were done considering age and gender distributions. Adjusted consumption for licensed drivers is also presented. Of the 5 million dispensations recorded between 2015 and 2018, opioid analgesics were dispensed to 11.44% of the general population and 8.72% of vehicle drivers. Increases among daily users (2.6 times higher) and chronic users (1.5% higher) were noted, supporting the overall increase in opioid use (1.5%). The use of multiple drugs including other DIMs was a common finding (mean ± SD, 2.54 ± 0.01). Acute use (5.26%) and chronic use (3.20%) were also frequent. Formulations combining opioid analgesics with nonopioid analgesics were preferred. The use of opioids increased in Spain between 2015 and 2018. Concomitant use with other DIMS especially affects women and the elderly. Frequent use of opioid analgesics with other DIMs is a serious problem for drivers and increases the risk of accidents. Promoting safe driving should be a main objective of health authorities, to be achieved by developing and implementing educational activities for healthcare professionals and patients.

Population-Based Registry Analysis of Antidiabetics Dispensations: Trend Use in Spain between 2015 and 2018 with Reference to Driving

“…In this sense, the increase in consumption per age of antidiabetics is also consistent with age distribution of DM, with a lower prevalence in young adults when compared with those more aged [3]. Furthermore, higher use among men is consistent with higher disease prevalence in male sex individuals [3], and higher concomitant use of other driving-impairing medicines is observed among women into both the general population and the driver population (e.g., anxiolytics, opioids, and antidepressants) [21,23,24].…”

“…Our analysis also considers the duration of treatment and concomitant use of these medicines with other driving impairing medicines (DIM), and the distribution by age and gender of users. Finally, as previously performed in other studies by our team, an adjustment method has been carried out in order to estimate the real consumption of these medicines in the driver population [20][21][22][23][24].…”

Trends in Antidepressants Use in Spain between 2015 and 2018: Analyses from a Population-Based Registry Study with Reference to Driving

“…However, in this case, it can be assumed that the biases produced when using dispensing data is not relevant, as antidepressants are financed medicines and their use require mandatory medical prescription. On the other hand, CONCYLIA does not include driver's license information, so weighting was made on the basis of age and gender with the driver's license census information, as performed in previous studies by our team [24][25][26][27].…”

“…The data on dispensation of antidepressants and other DIMs were accessible from CONCYLIA (http://www.saludcastillayleon.es/portalmedicamento/es/indicadoresinformes/concylia), where the entire information on pharmaceuticals care in Castile and León is routinely collected. The drivers' license census data for the years 2015 to 2018 were also accessible (http://www.dgt.es/es/seguridad-vial/estadisticas-e-indicadores/permisos-conduccion/) to calculate the adjusted use of antidepressants by drivers (Table S2), as previously made [24][25][26][27].…”

“…This study presents the data on antidepressants consumption from 2015 to 2018 in Castile and León, Spain, based on dispensation of such DIMs at pharmacies. The adjusted use of antidepressants by the driver population is also presented in order to assess differences in patterns of use with respect to the general population [24][25][26][27]. In addition, the duration and their concomitant use of antidepressants with other driving impairing medicines were also assessed.…”