Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 3, 2025
Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System
Published on: December 11, 2016
Patterns of filled prescriptions and the association with risk of drug-induced death. A population-based nested
Ellen J Amundsen1, Ingvild Odsbu2, Svetlana O Skurtveit2,3
1Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Purpose:
Opioid analgesics (OA) and other pharmaceuticals have been associated with drug-induced deaths. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding patterns of use of these pharmaceuticals in the population and regarding such associations. We identify and describe subgroups of people with different patterns of filled prescriptions of OA and other relevant pharmaceuticals and examine associations with drug-induced deaths. In addition, we estimate the proportion of drug-induced deaths with a filled OA prescription and OA as cause of death.
Methods:
A Norwegian population-based nested case-control register study with cases (drug-induced deaths 2010-2018, N = 2388) and population controls matched for age, gender and year of inclusion (N = 21 465). Patterns of filled prescriptions for opioid analgesics (OA), benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs, gabapentinoids, ADHD medication and antidepressants/antipsychotics were explored by k-means cluster analysis. Associations with drug-induced deaths were estimated by conditional logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics. Overlap of filled OA prescriptions and OA as cause of death was estimated.
Results:
Five clusters were identified: 'few prescriptions', 'weak OA', 'ADHD medication', 'sedative/psychiatric morbidity' and 'strong OA'. The 'strong OA' cluster had higher socioeconomic status compared to the other groupings. The risk of drug-induced death was also highest in this cluster (OR = 35.5; CI 25.6-49.3) and, for 68% (CI 64-73) of cases, filled prescriptions for OA was indicated as the underlying cause of death.
Conclusions:
The cluster analysis identified a subgroup with filled prescriptions of OA and other pharmaceuticals and a higher socioeconomic status than other subgroups. This subgroup had a high risk of drug-induced death that needs to be addressed.
More Related Videos
06:55Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting Propensity Score using the Military Health System Data Repository and National Death Index
Published on: January 8, 2020
12:18A Machine Learning Approach to Design an Efficient Selective Screening of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: January 11, 2020
Related Concept Videos
01:12Analysis of Population Pharmacokinetic Data
01:23Nonlinear Pharmacokinetics: Dependence of Elimination Half-Life and Dose Clearance
A study on guinea pigs examined the...
01:19Pharmacovigilance
This process, termed pharmacovigilance, aims to detect, evaluate, and minimize harmful effects related to medication use. The data collection for pharmacovigilance depends on spontaneous reporting systems, where healthcare professionals or patients voluntarily report suspected ADRs.
In some cases, there...
01:02Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs
The misuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a growing problem that can affect people of all age groups, specifically teenagers. This can happen when prescription medications are used in ways not intended by the prescriber, such as taking someone else's prescription or using medication for...
01:23Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
01:21Drug Distribution: Tissue Binding
For...