ArticleJournal of occupational rehabilitation2024
Increased Use and Large Variation in Strong Opioids and Metamizole (Dipyrone) for Minor and Major Musculoskeletal Injuries Between 2008 and 2018: An Analysis of a Representative Sample of Swiss Workers.
Article in Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Age disparities in adverse reactions of drugs used in pain therapies in Switzerland.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Pain medication associated with decreased physical performance and rehabilitation progress.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Two-Phase Inpatient Withdrawal Programme for Long-Term Opioid Use in Non-Cancer Pain.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Observational
- Higher paracetamol levels are associated with elevated glucocorticoid concentrations in hair: findings from a large cohort of young adults.Archives of toxicology · 2024Article
- Factors influencing pain medication and opioid use in patients with musculoskeletal injuries: a retrospective insurance claims database study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeMusculoskeletal (MSK) injuries are a major contributing factor for chronic pain. To date, little is known how pain medication use in MSK injuries has changed over time. We assessed pain medication prescription for MSK injuries in a representative sample of Swiss workers between 2008 and 2018.
methodsRetrospective analysis of the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (Suva) data. We calculated annual pain medication use, treatment days, and costs associated with pain medication use in minor and major MSK injuries.
resultsIn total, 1,921,382 cases with MSK injuries with ≥ 1 pain medication were analyzed. Whereas MSK injuries with ≥ 1 pain medication increased by 9.4%, we observed a larger increase in metamizole (+ 254%), strong opioids (+ 88.4%), coxibs (+ 85.8%), and paracetamol (+ 28.1%). Strong opioids were increasingly used in minor (+ 91.4%) and major (+ 88.3%) injuries. The increase in metamizole (+ 390.6%) and coxibs (+ 115.5%) was larger in minor injuries compared to major injuries (+ 238.7% and + 80.6%, respectively). Medical expenses decreased in all medications except for strong opioids where a substantial increase was observed (+ 192.4% in minor; + 34% in major injuries).
conclusionsWe observed a disproportionate increase in metamizole, strong opioids, coxibs, and paracetamol prescriptions even in minor MSK injuries between 2008 and 2018. Whereas treatment costs decreased for all pain medications, there was a substantial increase in strong opioids. A more liberal prescription practice of opioids conflict with current evidence-based practice recommendations and need to be addressed by physicians and policy makers.
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.