Prevalence of use of non-prescription analgesics in the Norwegian HUNT3 population: Impact of gender, age, exercise and prescription of opioids

Abstract

BackgroundThere are concerns about potential increasing use of over-the-counter (OTC) analgesics. The aims of this study were to examine 1) the prevalence of self-reported use of OTC analgesics; 2) the prevalence of combining prescription analgesics drugs with OTC analgesics and 3) whether lifestyle factors such as physical activity were associated with prevalence of daily OTC analgesic use.MethodsQuestionnaire data from the Nord–Trøndelag health study (HUNT3, 2006–08), which includes data from 40,000 adult respondents. The questionnaire included questions on use of OTC analgesics, socioeconomic conditions, health related behaviour, symptoms and diseases. Data were linked to individual data from the Norwegian Prescription Database. A logistic regression was used to investigate the association between different factors and daily use of paracetamol and/or non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with and without chronic pain.ResultsThe prevalence of using OTC analgesics at least once per week in the last month was 47%. Prevalence of paracetamol use was almost 40%, compared to 19% and 8% for NSAIDs and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), respectively. While the use of NSAIDs decreased and the use of ASA increased with age, paracetamol consumption was unaffected by age. Overall more women used OTC analgesics. About 3-5% of subjects using OTC analgesics appeared to combine these with the same analgesic on prescription. Among subjects reporting chronic pain the prevalence of OTC analgesic use was almost twice as high as among subjects without chronic pain. Subjects with little physical activity had 1.5-4 times greater risk of daily use of OTC compared to physically active subjects.ConclusionsUse of OTC analgesics is prevalent, related to chronic pain, female gender and physical inactivity.

Knowledge and attitude of analgesics use among Saudi population: A cross-sectional study

“…[10,20,21] Our findings generally revealed no significant difference in use of analgesics between male and female as the previous study in Iran and that converse to other studies in Riyadh, Taif, turkey, Germany, and Norway. [1,14,15,17,22,23] Like our findings in Saudi, many studies have also shown there is a significant age difference in the prevalence of analgesic use among the population. Studies conducted in Taif, Sweden, United States, and Norway have shown an association between age and analgesic use.…”

“…This agrees with results from previous studies. [14,16] there is another study in Germany shown the opposite result. [17] Most of the analgesics user in this study are taking one tablet mostly for minor pains such as fever and headache which shows lack of information about appropriate adult dose which agrees with a Norwegian study which says that their respondents were using a lower dose of OTC drugs and had not exceeded the maximum dose.…”

“…[14,15] We found that the most commonly used analgesic in KSA is paracetamol, followed NSAID. This agrees with results from previous studies.…”

“…While some studies have indicated that there is no significant association between age and analgesic use. [14,28] As a drug expert, the pharmacist is considered as a valuable source of information about medication use and its safety. This result coincides with the result of the study done in Taif; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.…”

Prevalence and predictors of over-the-counter medication use among adolescents in the United Arab Emirates

“…Furthermore, some of these variables have been identified in recent literature, as factors associated with OTC use. For example, adults with little physical activity had 1.5-4 times greater risk of daily OTC analgesic use compared to physically active individuals (34).…”