Bäckryd Emmanuel
Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Int J Womens Health. 2018 Jan 18;10:55-64. doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S142052. eCollection 2018.
A potentially illuminating way of looking at gender differences in health and disease is to study differences in drug utilization. The aim of this study was to describe gender differences in dispensed analgesics (including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs]) in Sweden during 2006-2015.
The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare holds an open, Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC)-based statistical database containing aggregated data on all dispensed prescription drugs in Swedish pharmacies since 2006. The database is searchable according to sex, age (5-year intervals), and Swedish regions.
Nationwide, whole-population information was retrieved for all ATC codes at the second level for individuals ≥20 years of age, focusing on sex-related differences. More in-depth analyses were made for analgesics, including NSAIDs. Descriptive statistics were used. Gender differences in drug prescription are pervasive in Sweden; the yearly prevalence in 2015 was higher in women for 72 out of 84 ATC groups (not adjusted for age). Analgesics, including NSAIDs, were more commonly used by women in all age groups. Gender differences were sustained over time (2006-2015) and were particularly striking for triptans. For both men and women, the yearly prevalence of opioids was stable during 2006-2015, whereas it increased for paracetamol and decreased for NSAIDs. The increase in paracetamol prescription was most noticeable for young females, and the decrease in NSAID prescription was largest in older patients (irrespective of sex).
Gender differences in the use of analgesics probably mirror the higher prevalence of chronic pain in women.
研究药物使用差异是一种潜在的、有助于阐明健康与疾病中性别差异的方法。本研究旨在描述2006年至2015年瑞典发放的镇痛药（包括非甾体抗炎药[NSAIDs]）的性别差异。
瑞典卫生与福利委员会拥有一个基于解剖治疗化学（ATC）分类系统的开放统计数据库，其中包含自2006年以来瑞典药店所有发放的处方药的汇总数据。该数据库可根据性别、年龄（5年间隔）和瑞典地区进行搜索。
在全国范围内，检索了≥20岁个体所有二级ATC编码的全人群信息，重点关注性别相关差异。对镇痛药（包括NSAIDs）进行了更深入的分析，并采用了描述性统计方法。瑞典的药物处方存在普遍的性别差异；在84个ATC组中，2015年女性的年患病率在72组中更高（未根据年龄调整）。包括NSAIDs在内的镇痛药在所有年龄组中女性使用更为普遍。性别差异在2006年至2015年期间持续存在，对于曲坦类药物尤为显著。对于男性和女性，2006年至2015年期间阿片类药物的年患病率保持稳定，而对乙酰氨基酚的患病率上升，NSAIDs的患病率下降。对乙酰氨基酚处方的增加在年轻女性中最为明显，NSAIDs处方的减少在老年患者中最大（无论性别）。
镇痛药使用的性别差异可能反映了女性慢性疼痛患病率较高的情况。
