Musculoskeletal pain: prescription of NSAID and weak opioid by primary health care physicians in Sweden 2004–2008 – a retrospective patient record review

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographics for the entire cohort studied from January 1, 2004 to November 11, 2008

	2004 (N = 2909)	2005 (N = 4849)	2006 (N = 6141)	2007 (N = 5754)	2008 (N = 3894)
Female, n (%)	1766 (60.7)	2862 (59.0)	3523 (57.4)	3307 (57.5)	2183 (56.1)
Male, n (%)	1143 (39.3)	1987 (41.0)	2618 (42.6)	2447 (42.5)	1711 (43.9)
Age, y
Total
Mean (SD)	50.8 (15.9)	51.5 (16.0)	51.8 (16.2)	52.1 (16.4)	52.4 (16.3)
Median	51.0	51.0	52.0	52.0	52.0
Min – max	18–95	18–96	18–101	18–102	18–98
Female
Mean (SD)	51.4 (16.0)	52.3 (16.1)	52.7 (16.3)	52.8 (16.6)	53.5 (16.3)
Median	52.0	53.0	53.0	53.0	54.0
Min – max	18–95	18–96	18–101	18–102	18–98
Male
Mean (SD)	50.0 (15.7)	50.4 (15.8)	50.6 (15.9)	51.0 (16.1)	50.9 (16.2)
Median	49.0	50.0	50.0	51.0	50.0
Min – max	18–93	18–91	18–92	18–93	18–94

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 Annual numbers of prescriptions for the entire patient cohort studied

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Total	%
tNSAIDs	2,332	4,116	5,327	5,079	3,420	20,274	75
Coxibs	304	289	256	201	140	1190	4
Codeine	233	384	484	447	314	1862	7
Dextropropxyphene	164	261	314	306	164	1209	5
Tramadol	317	529	680	612	394	2532	9
All prescriptions	3,350	5,579	7,061	6,645	4,432	27,067	100

Figure 1 Proportion of prescriptions from 2004 to 2008 for the entire cohort studied.

Table 3 Proportion of NSAID and weak opioid prescription among entire cohort and when divided into adults and elderly for the 5-year study period

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
All
NSAIDs	79	79	79	79	80
Weak opioids	21	21	21	21	20
All prescriptions	3,350	5,579	7,061	6,645	4,432
Adults
NSAIDs	80	82	82	83	83
Weak opioids	18	18	18	17	17
All prescriptions	2,548	4,221	5,410	5,152	3,469
Elderly
NSAIDs	73	70	69	68	72
Weak opioids	27	30	31	32	28
All prescriptions	802	1,358	1,651	1,493	963

Table 4 Proportion of prescriptions in adult patients and elderly patients over the 5 year period studied

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Adults (age, 18–65 y)
tNSAIDs	90	95	96	96.5	97
Coxibs	10	5	4	3,5	3
NSAIDs	100	100	100	100	100
No. of prescription	2,053	3,455	4,443	4,271	2,870
Codeine	34	34	34	34	38
Dextropropoxyphene	19	19	18	19	18
Tramadol	47	47	48	47	44
Weak opioids	100	100	100	100	100
No. of prescription	495	766	967	881	599
Elderly (age > 65 y)
tNSAIDs	82	89	93	95	93
Coxibs	18	11	7	5	7
NSAIDs	100	100	100	100	100
No. of prescription	583	950	1,140	1,009	690
Codeine	30	31	30	30	32
Dextropropoxyphene	32	27	28	28	21
Tramadol	38	41	42	41	47
Weak opioids	100	99	100	99	100
No. of prescription	219	408	511	484	273