ArticlePloS one2019
Analgesic drug use in elderly persons: A population-based study in Southern Italy.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Prevalence and associated factors of inappropriate analgesic drug use among community-dwelling older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Interprofessional, Integrative Approaches to Chronic Pain Management in Home-Based Medical Care.Clinics in geriatric medicine · 2026Review
- Dental recommendation and prescribing patterns for systemic analgesics - a cross-sectional study.Clinical oral investigations · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Opioid Use in Nursing Homes Over the Last Decade: A Systematic Literature Review.The Journal of pharmacy technology : jPT : official publication of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians · 2024Article
- Observational evidence linking psychotropic medicines to the dispensing of opioid agents in later life.Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society · 2024Observational
- Consumer awareness and knowledge regarding use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in a metropolitan area.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Pain and Its Management in Patients Referred to a Geriatric Outpatient Clinic.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- Real-world patient characteristics and use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-national study.Clinical rheumatology · 2023Article
- Over the Counter Pain Medications Used by Adults: A Need for Pharmacist Intervention.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Knowledge and Use of Over-the-counter Drugs in Italy: An Exploratory Survey-based Study in the General Population.Current neuropharmacology · 2023Article
- Prescribing Pattern of Analgesics in Colombia. Are there Differences between Capital Cities and Municipalities? A Cross-Sectional Study.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2022Article
- Protective Effect of Curcumin against Sodium Salicylate-Induced Oxidative Kidney Damage, Nuclear Factor-Kappa Dysregulation, and Apoptotic Consequences in Rats.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Analgesic purchases among older adults - a population-based study.BMC public health · 2021Article
- An Italian Expert Consensus on the Use of Opioids for the Management of Chronic Non-Oncological Pain in Clinical Practice: Focus on Buprenorphine.Journal of pain research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAnalgesics such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), weak and strong opioids are commonly used among elderly persons. The aim of this study was to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of elderly analgesic users and to measure the frequency of analgesic use, including the frequency of potentially inappropriate analgesic use.
methodsThe Arianna database was used to carry out this study. This database contains prescription data with associated indication of use for 1,076,486 inhabitants registered with their general practitioners (GPs) in the Caserta Local Health Unit (Caserta district, Campania region in Italy). A cohort of persons aged ≥65 years old with >1 year of database history having at least one analgesic drug (NSAIDs, strong or weak opioids) between 2010 and 2014 were identified. The date of the first analgesic prescription in the study period was considered the index date (ID).
resultsFrom a source population of 1,076,486 persons, 116,486 elderly persons were identified. Of these, 94,820 elderly persons received at least one analgesic drug: 36.6% were incident NSAID users (N = 36,629), while 13.2% were incident weak opioid users (N = 12,485) and 8.1% were incident strong opioid users (N = 7,658). In terms of inappropriate analgesic use, 9.2% (N = 10,763) of all elderly users were prescribed ketorolac/indomethacin inappropriately, since these drugs should not be prescribed to elderly persons. Furthermore, at least half all elderly persons with chronic kidney disease or congestive heart failure were prescribed NSAIDs, while these drugs should be avoided.
conclusionAnalgesics are commonly used inappropriately among elderly persons, suggesting that prescribing practice in the catchment area may yet be improved.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.