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.

The risk of long-term opioid use among immigrants: a national registry-linkage study.

Aims: We aimed to investigate the association between being an immigrant and long-term prescription opioid use in Norway in 2010-2019.

Methods: Nested case-control study. The cases were all persons 18 years of age or older with long-term opioid use - that is, the use of prescription opioids longer than 3 months (=215,642).

Prevalence of drugs used for chronic conditions after diagnosis of thyroid cancer: a register-based cohort study.

Objective: Little is known about thyroid cancer survivors' risk of chronic conditions. We, therefore, investigated the prevalence of drugs used for chronic conditions among thyroid cancer patients using population-wide register data.

Methods: We linked data from the Cancer Registry of Norway to the Norwegian Prescription Database and other databases for a study population of 3.

Increased cancer incidence and mortality among people with opioid use-related disorders: A nation-wide cohort study.

Background And Aims: Studies on cancer incidence and mortality among people with opioid use-related disorders are lacking. We aimed to measure cancer-specific incidence, mortality and survival among people diagnosed with opioid use-related disorders in Norway during 2010-18.

Design And Setting: This was a cohort study conducted in Norway during 2010-18.

The epidemiology of major depression among adults in Norway: an observational study on the concurrence between population surveys and registry data - a NCDNOR project.

Background: Mental health problems, and major depression in particular, are important public health issues. Following trends in the prevalence of major depression is difficult because of the costs and complications of diagnostic interviews and general population self-report health surveys. Scandinavian countries, however, have several central, population-based health registries.

Antipsychotic use during pregnancy and risk of specific neurodevelopmental disorders and learning difficulties in children: a multinational cohort study.

Background: Antipsychotics are commonly prescribed to treat a range of psychiatric conditions in women of reproductive age and during pregnancy, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorder, and insomnia. This study aimed to evaluate whether children exposed to antipsychotic medication prenatally are at increased risk of specific neurodevelopmental disorders and learning difficulties.

Methods: Our population-based cohort study used nationwide register data (1 January 2000-31 December 2020) on pregnant women diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and their live-born singletons from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

The medication-based Rx-Risk Comorbidity Index and risk of hip fracture - a nationwide NOREPOS cohort study.

Background: Few previous studies have assessed overall morbidity at the individual level with respect to future risk of hip fracture. The aim of this register-based cohort study was to examine the association between morbidity measured by the medication-based Rx-Risk Comorbidity Index (Rx-Risk) and the risk of first hip fracture.

Methods: Individual-level data on medications dispensed from pharmacies (2005-2016) was retrieved from the Norwegian Prescription Database and used to calculate Rx-Risk for each calendar year.

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.

National health registries - a 'goldmine' for studying non-communicable disease occurrence in Norway - the NCDNOR project.

To estimate occurrence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) over the life-course in the Norwegian population, national health registries are a vital source of information since they fully represent the entire non-institutionalised population. However, as they are mainly established for administrative purposes, more knowledge about how NCDs are recorded in the registries is needed. To establish this, we begin by counting the number of individuals registered annually with one or more NCDs in any of the registries.

Prevalence and treatment of gestational diabetes in Norway 2010-2020.

Aims: Estimate prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its treatment in Norway 2010-2020 and explore impact of new national GDM guidelines in 2017.

Methods: We identified women giving birth in a nationwide cohort study using registers on births, prescriptions, education, primary and specialist care. For each year, we estimated prevalence of GDM overall, by BMI, age, education, and mother's birthplace; proportions of GDM pregnancies receiving pharmacological treatment; and distribution of the gestational week when GDM was diagnosed.

Stroke and bleeding risk in atrial fibrillation with CHA2DS2-VASC risk score of one: the Norwegian AFNOR study.

Background And Aims: The benefit of oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy in atrial fibrillation (AF) and intermediate stroke risk is debated. In a nationwide Norwegian cohort with a non-sex CHA2DS2-VASc risk score of one, this study aimed to investigate (i) stroke and bleeding risk in AF patients with and without OAC treatment, and (ii) the risk of stroke in non-anticoagulated individuals with and without AF.

Methods: A total of 1 118 762 individuals including 34 460 AF patients were followed during 2011-18 until ischaemic stroke, intracranial haemorrhage, increased CHA2DS2-VASc score, or study end.

Fatal drug overdoses in individuals treated pharmacologically for chronic pain: a nationwide register-based study.

Introduction: Chronic pain patients may be at an increased risk for drug overdoses as a result of comorbid psychiatric disorders and treatment with risk-increasing prescription medications, such as opioids. We aimed to characterise fatal drug overdoses and investigate factors associated with the deaths among individuals who had been treated pharmacologically for chronic pain.

Methods: We included all individuals who received analgesics reimbursed for chronic pain in Norway during 2010-9 (n=569 047).

Socioeconomic risk factors for long-term opioid use: A national registry-linkage study.

Background: Opioid use has increased substantially as a treatment for chronic pain, although harms from long-term opioid therapy outweigh the benefits. More knowledge about factors associated with long-term opioid use is needed. We aimed to investigate the association between socioeconomic status and long-term opioid use in the period 2010-2019.

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.

Incidence and prevalence of drugs used for chronic diseases in survivors of adult-onset gynaecological cancer - A nationwide cohort study.

Objectives: To evaluate both incidence and prevalence of drugs used for chronic diseases in survivors of adult-onset gynaecological cancer.

Design: A prospective study.

Setting: Population-based registries.

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.

Use of Drugs With Risk of Heart Rate-Related Problems is Common in Norwegian Dementia Patients Treated With Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors: A Prevalence Study Based on the Norwegian Prescription Database.

Drugs commonly prescribed for heart rate control may induce adverse drug reactions in Alzheimer patients treated with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs). We have studied use of drugs with a known risk of Torsades de pointes (TdP) and drugs used to treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, as well as a combination of drugs with a known risk of TdP and drugs with a known heart rate-lowering effect, before and after initiating treatment with AChEIs. The study applied data from the Norwegian Prescription Database for the period 2004-2016.

[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.

Use of Statins in Kidney Transplant Recipients in Norway.

Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) experience increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Guidelines recommend HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) therapy when tolerated. We aimed to study changes in the prescription of statins and patients' adherence to treatment over time.

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.

Antipsychotic use in pregnancy and risk of attention/deficit-hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder: a Nordic cohort study.

Background: Antipsychotics are increasingly used among women of childbearing age and during pregnancy.

Objective: To determine whether children exposed to antipsychotics are at increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), accounting for maternal diagnoses of bipolar, psychotic and other psychiatric disorders. Population-based cohort study, including a sibling analysis.