Utilization of analgesics from 1970 to 1978. Prescription patterns in the county of Jämtland and in Sweden as a whole.

A comparative analysis of the usage of analgesics in the county of Jämtland and in Sweden 1970-78 has been carried out. An attempt was also made to map out the indications for prescribing such drugs. Both in Jämtland and in Sweden as a whole, analgesics sold over the counter accounted for more than half of the total usage. The same was true for fixed drug combinations. Analgesics were prescribed each year to 17% of the population of Jämtland. Fixed drug combinations containing sedatives maintained a large fraction of the amount of analgesics prescribed--31% of defined daily doses (DDDs) in 1978. Arylalkanoic acids (ibuprofen and naproxen), introduced in 1975, soon took a substantial part of the market--13% of DDDs in 1978. Though arylalkanoic acids were registered for treatment of degenerative joint diseases, four of five patients in Jämtland received them only once or twice during a two-year period. In the national study, every third prescription of these drugs was for degenerative joint diseases. The pattern of usage revealed in this study calls for improved pharmacotherapeutic training of physicians to make drug treatment more rational.