Table 2.
Pharmacoepidemiological data on drug use, drug abuse parameters and concomitant use of benzodiazepines and opioids for the different groups of carisoprodol users
| Drug user characteristics | Drug abuse parameters | Other prescriptions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | Age (years) mean (SD) | Female, N (%) | Carisoprodol (DDDs year−1), mean (SD) | Share from GPs* (%) | Max. therapeutic intensity (highest prescription: DDDs day−1)†, mean (SD) | Number of pharmacies, mean (SD) | Number of prescribers, mean (SD) | More than 3 prescribers, n (%) | From 1% highest prescribers‡, n (%) | Benzo- diazepines (DDDs year−1), mean (SD) | Opioids (DDDs year−1), mean (SD) | |
| Therapeutic use of carisoprodol | 51 749 (61.8) | 47.3 (14.0) | 31 938 (61.7) | 8.8 (3.0) | 53 | 0.2 (0.3) | 1.1 (0.2) | 1.0 (0.2) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1875 (3.6) | 3.3 (11.9) | 6.6 (14.3) |
| Pseudo-therapeutic long-term use of carisoprodol | 13 221 (15.8) | 49.2 (13.3) | 9 075 (68.6) | 57.9 (54.4) | 59 | 0.4 (0.4) | 1.3 (0.6) | 1.3 (0.6) | 129 (1.0) | 991 (7.5) | 8.4 (19.6) | 14.8 (23.8) |
| Carisoprodol abuse | 815 (1.0) | 44.6 (12.4) | 530 (65.0) | 206.3 (228.1) | 52 | 6.1 (5.8) | 1.4 (0.8) | 1.5 (0.9) | 37 (4.5) | 88 (10.8) | 13.4 (24.9) | 17.1 (25.5) |
| Anxiety patient/benzo-diazepine abuser | 6 546 (7.8) | 53.1 (15.0) | 4 563 (69.7) | 84.2 (123.5) | 56 | 1.5 (3.1) | 1.2 (0.6) | 1.2 (0.6) | 69 (1.1) | 1657 (25.3) | 398.4 (472.7) | 16.0 (25.0) |
| Pain patient/opioid abuser | 11 382 (13.6) | 49.7 (13.3) | 7 783 (68.4) | 160.4 (226.8) | 52 | 2.7 (5.1) | 1.3 (0.6) | 1.4 (0.8) | 228 (2.0) | 3223 (28.3) | 287.9 (615.1) | 378.3 (397.5) |
Data are given as mean (standard deviation) or as number (percentage of total number in group) (Norwegian Prescription Database 2004).
General practitioners (GPs) were specialists of family medicine. Doctors could be practising as GPs for some years without being specialists in family medicine.
The number of defined daily doses (DDDs) of carisoprodol in all prescriptions for each patient receiving at least two prescriptions for carisoprodol was divided by the number of days before the next prescription. If a patient received two prescriptions for carisoprodol on the same day the number of DDDs on these two prescriptions were added and divided by the number of days before the next prescription. The highest DDD per day for each patient was recorded.
The doctors were characterized according to how much of the total amount of benzodiazepines or opioids they prescribed. The highest prescribing doctors were the 1% of the doctors who had prescribed most of these drugs.