TY - JOUR
T1 - International Trends in Opioid Prescribing by Age and Sex from 2001 to 2019
T2 - An Observational Study Using Population-Based Databases from 18 Countries and One Special Administrative Region
AU - Chan, Adrienne Y.L.
AU - Bahmanyar, Shahram
AU - Beyene, Kebede
AU - Bushnell, Greta
AU - Carleton, Bruce
AU - Chan, Amy Hai Yan
AU - Cook, Sharon
AU - Crystal, Stephen
AU - Furu, Kari
AU - Gadzhanova, Svetla
AU - García Poza, Patricia
AU - Gini, Rosa
AU - Giometto, Sabrina
AU - Harrison, Jeff
AU - Haug, Ulrike
AU - Hsu, Christine
AU - Hjördísar Jónsdóttir, Harpa Lind
AU - Kai, Joe
AU - Karlstad, Øystein
AU - Kim, Ju Hwan
AU - Kubota, Kiyoshi
AU - Lai, Edward Chia Cheng
AU - Lee, Hyesung
AU - Lau, Wallis C.Y.
AU - Li, Kathy H.
AU - Lucenteforte, Ersilia
AU - Maura, Géric
AU - Neumann, Anke
AU - Pate, Virginia
AU - Pottegård, Anton
AU - Qureshi, Nadeem
AU - Rasmussen, Lotte
AU - Reutfors, Johan
AU - Roughead, Elizabeth E.
AU - Saastamoinen, Leena
AU - Sato, Tsugumichi
AU - Scholle, Oliver
AU - Schuiling-Veninga, C. C.M.
AU - Shen, Chin Yao
AU - Shin, Ju Young
AU - Stürmer, Til
AU - Taxis, Katja
AU - Tuccori, Marco
AU - Weng, Stephen
AU - Wong, Kirstie H.T.W.
AU - Zoega, Helga
AU - Man, Kenneth K.C.
AU - Wong, Ian C.K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025.
PY - 2025/11
Y1 - 2025/11
N2 - Objective: To characterize multinational trends and patterns of opioid analgesic prescribing by sex and age. Design, Setting, and Participants: We studied opioid analgesic prescribing from 2001 to 2019 with common protocol using population-based databases from eighteen countries and one special administrative region. Main Outcome Measures: We measured opioid prescribing by geographical region, sex and age, estimating annual prevalent, incident, and nonincident opioid prescribing per 100 population with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and meta-analyzed the multinational and regional opioid prescribing with a random-effects model. Time trends were reported through average annual absolute changes, estimated using linear mixed models. We further explored the effect of sex and age on prevalent opioid prescribing in the multivariable analysis. Results: Over 248 million individuals were included. Pooled multinational opioid prescribing prevalence was 9.0% amongst included countries/regions. Opioid prescribing prevalence in 2015 ranged from 2.7% in Japan to 19.7% in Iceland. Average annual absolute changes in opioid prescribing prevalence per year ranged from − 1.53% (95% CI − 2.06, − 1.00; United States Medicaid) to + 1.24% (95% CI 1.02, 1.46; South Korea). Pooled multinational incident opioid prescribing (4.9%; 95% CI 4.1, 5.9) was higher than pooled multinational nonincident opioid prescribing (3.7%; 95% CI 2.9, 4.8). The female sex and older age were associated with higher opioid prescribing. Main limitations of this study include the absence of data from study duration or individuals not covered by the data sources and the lack of information on medication adherence and indication. Conclusions: Opioid prescribing remains unbalanced across geographical regions; however, results suggest a tendency to convergence across countries/regions. Differences in opioid prescribing by sex and age were identified.
AB - Objective: To characterize multinational trends and patterns of opioid analgesic prescribing by sex and age. Design, Setting, and Participants: We studied opioid analgesic prescribing from 2001 to 2019 with common protocol using population-based databases from eighteen countries and one special administrative region. Main Outcome Measures: We measured opioid prescribing by geographical region, sex and age, estimating annual prevalent, incident, and nonincident opioid prescribing per 100 population with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and meta-analyzed the multinational and regional opioid prescribing with a random-effects model. Time trends were reported through average annual absolute changes, estimated using linear mixed models. We further explored the effect of sex and age on prevalent opioid prescribing in the multivariable analysis. Results: Over 248 million individuals were included. Pooled multinational opioid prescribing prevalence was 9.0% amongst included countries/regions. Opioid prescribing prevalence in 2015 ranged from 2.7% in Japan to 19.7% in Iceland. Average annual absolute changes in opioid prescribing prevalence per year ranged from − 1.53% (95% CI − 2.06, − 1.00; United States Medicaid) to + 1.24% (95% CI 1.02, 1.46; South Korea). Pooled multinational incident opioid prescribing (4.9%; 95% CI 4.1, 5.9) was higher than pooled multinational nonincident opioid prescribing (3.7%; 95% CI 2.9, 4.8). The female sex and older age were associated with higher opioid prescribing. Main limitations of this study include the absence of data from study duration or individuals not covered by the data sources and the lack of information on medication adherence and indication. Conclusions: Opioid prescribing remains unbalanced across geographical regions; however, results suggest a tendency to convergence across countries/regions. Differences in opioid prescribing by sex and age were identified.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105014777899
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105014777899#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1007/s40263-025-01215-2
DO - 10.1007/s40263-025-01215-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 40889082
AN - SCOPUS:105014777899
SN - 1172-7047
VL - 39
SP - 1173
EP - 1185
JO - CNS Drugs
JF - CNS Drugs
IS - 11
ER -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being