Prevalence of substance use disorder diagnoses in patients with chronic pain receiving reimbursed opioids: An epidemiological study of four Norwegian health registries.

Objectives: Since 2008, patients have had access to reimbursed analgesics, including opioids, for chronic pain in Norway. There is a need for knowledge on the occurrence and trends over time of substance use disorder (SUD) diagnoses among patients who receive reimbursed opioids for chronic pain. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of SUD diagnoses in patients with chronic pain using reimbursed opioids from 2010 to 2019 in Norway.

Initiation of Antipsychotics During the First Year After First-Episode Psychosis: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Antipsychotics are recommended after first-episode psychosis. Knowledge on the current use patterns in real-world settings is thus important to inform clinical practice. We aimed to describe antipsychotic initiation during 1 year after first-episode psychosis and its associated factors.

Nationwide trends in the use of ADHD medications in the period 2006-2022: a study from the Norwegian prescription database.

Background: The use of medication for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) increased globally throughout the early 2000s. This study examine trends in prevalences and incidences of medication use in Norway from 2006 to 2022.

Methods: Data from the Norwegian Prescription Database were used to present one-year-prevalence and incidence rates of ADHD medication (ATC-group N06BA and C02AC02) for the overall population (ages 6-64) and within sex and age subgroups of children (ages 6-17) and adults (ages 18-64).

Transverse Sinus Stenosis as an Underdiagnosed Cause of Chronic Headache: A Case Report.

Transverse sinus stenosis (TSS) is an abnormality in the cerebral venous system in which the narrowing of the transverse sinus of the brain leads to obstructed cerebral venous outflow. It is an infrequent, incidental radiological finding. However, it is not uncommon among patients with chronic headaches of unclear cause, particularly those that remain unexplained after initial evaluation or those that are refractory to medical treatment.

Morbidity among Adolescent Hypnotic Drug Users in Norway: An Observational Population-Based Study.

We have previously shown that the use of hypnotic drugs increased among young Scandinavians during 2012-2018. This study aimed to explore psychiatric and somatic morbidity among adolescent hypnotic drug users in a cohort study of 13-17-year-old individuals during 2008-2018 in Norway. Data sources were (i) prescription data from the Norwegian Prescription Database linked to specialist health care diagnoses from the Norwegian Patient Registry and (ii) sleep disorder diagnoses from the Primary Health Care Database.

[Mental disorders and symptoms with persistent opioid use for chronic non-cancer pain – a registry study].

Background: Knowledge of mental disorders among patients with persistent opioid use for the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain is essential, as mental disorders and symptoms can exacerbate or perpetuate pain and impact on the ability of patients to manage their illness. We have studied the prevalence of mental disorders and symptoms, including substance use disorders, in patients with persistent opioid use in 2019.

Material And Method: Persons ≥ 18 years with persistent opioid use and persons ≥ 18 years with at least one registered mental disorder in the specialist healthcare service in 2019 were included.

Impacts of Skin Color and Hypoxemia on Noninvasive Assessment of Peripheral Blood Oxygen Saturation: A Scoping Review.

Standard pulse oximeters estimate arterial blood saturation (SaO) non-invasively by emitting and detecting light of a specific wavelength through a cutaneous vascular bed, such as a digit or the ear lobe. The quantity measured at these peripheral sites is designated as oxygen saturation (SpO). Most reliable pulse oximeters are calibrated from measurements of healthy volunteers using some form of oxygen desaturation method.

Prenatal opioid exposure and risk of asthma in childhood: a population-based study from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Opioids may modulate the immune function through opioid receptors on immune cells. Long-term consequences of prenatal opioid exposure on the immune system, such as childhood asthma, are unknown. To investigate whether prenatal opioid exposure is associated with the risk of childhood asthma.

Mental disorder prevalence in chronic pain patients using opioid versus non-opioid analgesics: A registry-linkage study.

Background: Chronic pain and mental disorders are leading causes of disability worldwide. Individuals with chronic pain are more likely to experience mental disorders compared to individuals without chronic pain, but large-scale estimates are lacking. We aimed to calculate overall prevalence of mental health diagnoses from primary and secondary care among individuals treated for chronic pain in 2019 and to compare prevalence among chronic pain patients receiving opioid versus non-opioid analgesics, according to age and gender.

Can academic detailing reduce opioid prescriptions in chronic non-cancer pain?

Background: One measure to support optimal opioid prescription is academic detailing (AD) with one-to-one visits by trained professionals (academic detailers) to general practitioners (GPs).

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of AD visits on GPs' opioid prescribing patterns in Norway, and academic detailers' experiences with AD visits to GPs on opioid prescription.

Methods: Design: A quantitative registry study on opioid prescriptions and a qualitative focus group interview study with academic detailers.

Cohort Description: Preventing an Opioid Epidemic in Norway - Focusing on Treatment of Chronic Pain (POINT) - A National Registry-Based Study.

Aim: The POINT project aims to provide evidence to optimise chronic pain management, prevent adverse consequences of opioids, and improve chronic pain patients' pain relief, functional capacity, and quality of life. We describe the outline of the project and its work packages. More specifically, we describe a cohort of persons with chronic pain and a cohort of long-term opioid users identified from a national registry linkage.

Association of Prenatal Exposure to Benzodiazepines and Z-Hypnotics With Risk of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Childhood.

Importance: Evidence is limited regarding the safety of prenatal benzodiazepine and z-hypnotic exposure and its association with long-term neurodevelopment in childhood.

Objective: To quantify the associations of the timing and number of intervals of prenatal exposure to benzodiazepines and/or z-hypnotics with the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study used data from the 1999 to 2008 population-based Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study, which are linked to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, Norwegian Patient Registry, and Norwegian Prescription Database.

Utilization of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scandinavia.

Objective: To study patterns of antidepressant, anxiolytic, and hypnotic drug utilization in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The monthly observed number of prescription fills of antidepressants, benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related hypnotics (BZ), and other anxiolytics and hypnotics (OAH) per population in 2020 were compared with predicted numbers based on analysis of covariance of prescription fills during 2015-2019.

Results: In March 2020, there was an increased number of prescription fills for antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics in youths and adults aged 20-59 years in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Morbidity through 3 Years of Age in Children of Women Using Methamphetamine during Pregnancy: A National Registry Study.

Background: There is a lack of studies on methamphetamine (MA) exposure and morbidity in children beyond the perinatal period.

Objectives: We compared morbidity in children (0-3 years) with prenatal MA exposure to opioid-exposed and to non-exposed children.

Methods: We used data from a Czech nationwide, registry-based cohort study (2000-2014).

Individuals Dying of Overdoses Related to Pharmaceutical Opioids Differ from Individuals Dying of Overdoses Related to Other Substances: A Population-Based Register Study.

Background: Pharmaceutical opioid (PO) overdose deaths have increased in many Western countries. There are indications that those dying from a PO overdose differ from those dying from other types of overdoses. These differences might pose a challenge as the majority of current preventive measures are tailored toward those with the characteristics of "conventional" overdose deaths.

Killing pain?: a population-based registry study of the use of prescription analgesics, anxiolytics, and hypnotics among all children, adolescents and young adults in Norway from 2004 to 2019.

The ongoing opioid epidemic has been a global concern for years, increasingly due to its heavy toll on young people's lives and prospects. Few studies have investigated trends in use of the wider range of drugs prescribed to alleviate pain, psychological distress and insomnia in children, adolescents and young adults. Our aim was to study dispensation as a proxy for use of prescription analgesics, anxiolytics and hypnotics across age groups (0-29 years) and sex over the last 15 years in a large, representative general population.

Parental drinking, mental health and education, and extent of offspring's healthcare utilisation for anxiety/depression: A HUNT survey and registry study.

Aims: Certain risk constellations of parental drinking, mental health and years of education are prospectively associated with offspring's risk for a diagnosis of anxiety/depression, but it remains unknown how they may relate to other aspects of offspring's mental health. We examined whether such risk constellations were also prospectively associated with the extent of offspring's utilisation of healthcare services for anxiety/depression.

Methods: The sample included 8773 adolescent offspring of 6696 two-parent families who participated in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study in Norway.

[Long-term use of opioids and concomitant use of other habit-forming drugs].

Background: Long-term use of opioids may have undesirable consequences. We have investigated long-term opioid use in patient groups that were prescribed opioids for various indications (chronic pain, palliative care, other (white prescriptions, not generally covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme)) as well as the groups' concomitant use of some other addictive medications.

Material And Method: Persons registered in the Norwegian Prescription Database with at least one filled prescription of an opioid in the period 2011-19 were included.

Describing long-term opioid use utilizing Nordic prescription registers-A Norwegian example.

Previous studies have defined long-term opioid use in varying ways, decreasing comparability, reproducibility and clinical applicability of the research. Based on recommendations from recent systematic reviews, we aimed to develop a methodology to estimate the prevalence of use persisting more than three months utilizing one of the Nordic prescription registers. We used the Norwegian Prescription Register (NorPD) to extract data on all opioid dispensations between 1 January 2004 and 31 October 2019.

Association of Timing and Duration of Prenatal Analgesic Opioid Exposure With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children.

Importance: Prior studies have reported that the use of illicit opioids during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in offspring; however, evidence regarding the association of analgesic opioids is limited.

Objective: To examine the association of timing and duration of prenatal analgesic opioid exposure with ADHD in children.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study uses data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort study (1999-2008), a nationwide birth cohort study linked to national health registries, with a mean (SD) follow-up of 10.