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Tapentadol, the new kid on the block in India: Is it time to worry?
Debasish Basu1, Tathagata Mahintamini1, Abhishek Ghosh1
1Department of Psychiatry, Drug De-Addiction and Treatment Centre, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Background And Objectives:
Large-scale prospective case series of tapentadol abuse or dependence in India is not available. Hence, we aimed to study the prevalence and profile of tapentadol users in a treatment-seeking population.
Materials And Methods:
The study had prospective and retrospective arms. We collected 8-month prospective data by face-to-face interviews (n = 70) and 8-year retrospective data from case notes (n = 26) with either tapentadol misuse/abuse or dependence in patients attending a de-addiction center.
Results:
The prevalence of tapentadol abuse or dependence was 25% among the pharmaceutical opioid users. Concurrent use of other opioids was seen in >80% of participants of both the arms. Major sources of tapentadol were chemists (without a prescription) (53%) and doctors (prescriptions) (40%). Patients in the tapentadol dependence group had a significantly higher dose, duration, and pharmaceutical opioid use.
Conclusion:
India needs awareness promotion, training, availability restriction, and provision of treatment for tapentadol abuse or dependence.
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