Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29440012›Full record

Observational studyThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2018

Patterns of regional variation of opioid prescribing in primary care in England: a retrospective observational study.

Luke Mordecai, Carl Reynolds, Liam J Donaldson, Amanda C de C Williams

Erratum issuedAbstract readObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 63 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
63citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

63 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  14. Taking the pain out of pain.British journal of pain · 2023
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3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Luke MordecaiUniversity College London Hospital, London.
Carl ReynoldsSt Mary's Hospital, London.
Liam J DonaldsonFaculty of Epidemiology and Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London.
Amanda C de C WilliamsResearch Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOpioids are a widely prescribed class of drug with potentially harmful short-term and long-term side effects. There are concerns about the amounts of these drugs being prescribed in England given that they are increasingly considered ineffective in the context of long-term non-cancer pain, which is one of the major reasons for their prescription.

aimTo assess the amount and type of opioids prescribed in primary care in England, and patterns of regional variation in prescribing. DESIGN AND

settingRetrospective observational study using publicly available government data from various sources pertaining to opioids prescribed in primary practice in England and Indices of Social Deprivation.

methodOfficial government data were analysed for opioid prescriptions from August 2010 to February 2014. The total amount of opioid prescribed was calculated and standardised to allow for geographical comparisons.

resultsThe total amount of opioid prescribed, in equivalent milligrams of morphine, increased (

conclusionLong-term opioid prescribing is increasing despite poor efficacy for non-cancer pain, potential harm, and incompatibility with best practice. Questions of equality of care arise from higher prescription rates in the north of England and in areas of greater social deprivation. A national registry of patients with high opioid use would improve patient safety for this high-risk demographic, as well as provide more focused epidemiological data regarding patterns of prescribing.

Indexed as

Primary Health CareAnalgesics, OpioidBuprenorphineChronic PainCrimeDatabases, FactualEducationEmploymentEnglandHealth StatusHousingHumansIncomeMethadoneMorphineOxycodoneAnalgesics, OpioidBuprenorphineMethadoneMorphineOxycodoneTramadolchronic painobservational studyopioid prescribingprimary careregional variationsocial deprivation

Identifiers

PMID29440012
PMCPMC5819988

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.