Opioids in geriatric units in 14 Belgian hospitals: prevalence, dosage and associated factors

Figures & data

Table 1. Patient characteristics and univariate analysis for ­opioid use and opioid dosage.

Variable	Opioid use (prevalence)	p-value	Opioid dosage (mg/24h) (SD)	p-value
Gender
Male	62/299 (20.7%)	0.072	13.86 (17.28)	0.891
Female	129/485 (26.6%)		14.17 (13.12)
Age category
70-74 years	13/42 (31.0%)	0.777	14.34 (12.63)	0.665
75-79 years	28/100 (28.0%)		15.09 (15.53)
80-84 years	43/185 (23.2%)		17.04 (21.48)
85-89 years	55/234 (23.5%)		13.19 (11.22)
90-94 years	41/168 (24.4%)		11.93 (10.27)
95 years and older	11/55 (20.0%)		11.96 (8.61)
Dementia
Yes	76/363 (20.9%)	0.045	13.62 (10.66)	0.725
No	115/421 (27.3%)		14.37 (16.67)
Department
Orthogeriatrics (exclusively)	48/93 (51.6%)	<0.001	10.47 (7.58)	0.047
Acute geriatric and mixed units	143/691 (20.7%)		15.28 (16.08)

Table 2. Multivariable logistic regression for opioid use.

	Odds ratio (95% CI)	p-value
Gender (men versus women)	1.277 (0.889-1.836)	0.186
Dementia (no versus yes)	1.334 (1.053-1.539)	0.024
Department (orthogeriatrics versus others)	4.188 (2.491-7.040)	<0.001
Age category
70-74 versus 95 and older	0.470 (0.179-1.234)	0.125
75-79 versus 95 and older	0.536 (0.235-1.222)	0.138
80-84 versus 95 and older	0.660 (0.305-1.428)	0.291
85-89 versus 95 and older	0.713 (0.335-1.515)	0.379
90-94 versus 95 and older	0.592 (0.272-1.288)	0.186

Table 3. Multivariable linear regression for opioid dosage.

	Mean ratio	Lower limit CI	Upper limit CI	p
Department (orthogeriatrics versus others)	0.85	0.64	1.14	0.287
Gender (female versus male)	0.97	0.80	1.18	0.766
Dementia (no vs yes)	1.09	0.90	1.32	0.373
Type of opioid
Step 2 oral versus step 3 transdermal	0.30	0.23	0.39	<0.001
Step 3 oral/subcutaneous versus step 3 transdermal	0.33	0.22	0.48	<0.001
Indication (acute versus chronic)	0.86	0.67	1.12	0.256

Figure 1. Mean dose (subcutaneous (SC) morphine equivalent; in mg/24h) of type of opioids (p < 0.01).

Data availability statement

Full trial protocol and all data are accessible on request to the corresponding author.