UI - 000159

AU - Sorensen HT

AU - Rasmussen HH

AU - Moller-Petersen JF

AU - Ejlersen E

AU - Hamburger H

AU - Olesen F

TI - Epidemiology of pain requiring strong analgesics outside hospital in a geographically defined

population in Denmark

AB - Based on obligatory notifications from pharmacies to the National Board of Health about prescription

of strong analgesics as well as questionnaires to the prescribing doctors, the occurrence and causes of pain

requiring strong analgesics outside hospitals were analysed over a period of one month in Denmark in a

limited population (480,000), corresponding to nearly 10% of the Danish population. During one month,

strong analgesics were prescribed to 0.2 per cent of the population. The commonest acute conditions were

back pain (23%) and trauma (17%). The commonest recurrent acute conditions were headache (25%) and

angina pectoris (17%). The commonest chronic non-malignant conditions were back pain (29%) and

pancreatitis (7%). The commonest malignant conditions were lung cancer (20%) and colorectal cancer

(14%). The commonest conditions indicated under the chronic pain syndrome were headache (33%) and

back pain (13%). Conditions requiring strong analgesics reflect to some extent the distribution of painful

conditions in the general population.

SO - Danish Medical Bulletin 1992;39:464-46