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The opioid epidemic: A worldwide exploratory study using the WHO pharmacovigilance database
Marion Robert1,2, Emilie Jouanjus3,4, Charles Khouri2,5
1Addictovigilance Department, Grenoble Alpes University Hospital, Grenoble, France.
Addiction (Abingdon, England)
|November 4, 2022
Summary
Globally, four clusters of countries show distinct opioid abuse trends. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany exhibit the highest reported risks for opioid use disorders.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacovigilance and Global Health
- Drug Abuse Epidemiology
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- The United States faces a severe opioid epidemic, driving the need to understand global trends in opioid abuse and dependence.
- Opioid use disorders represent a significant global health challenge, necessitating international comparative analysis.
- The World Health Organization's pharmacovigilance database offers a valuable resource for tracking adverse drug reactions worldwide.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify countries at high risk for opioid use disorders by analyzing global pharmacovigilance data.
- To explore worldwide trends in opioid abuse and dependence beyond the United States.
- To categorize countries based on their reported risks for abuse and dependence of key opioids.
Main Methods:
- Disproportionality analysis of individual case safety reports (ICSRs) from the WHO VigiBase database.
- Inclusion of five major opioids: oxycodone, fentanyl, morphine, tramadol, and codeine.
- Calculation of the Information Component (IC) and hierarchical cluster analysis to identify risk profiles.
Main Results:
- Four distinct clusters of countries emerged based on opioid abuse and dependence profiles.
- Cluster 1, indicating the highest risk, included Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- Significant signals for abuse and dependence were observed for all five studied opioids in the high-risk cluster.
Conclusions:
- Countries exhibit varied patterns of opioid abuse and dependence.
- A high-risk group of nations, including the US and UK, shows elevated reported risks for major opioids.
- Findings highlight the need for targeted global strategies to combat opioid use disorders.
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