ArticleClinical epidemiology2026
Prescribing of Opioid Analgesics in Germany: Opposite Trends When Different Quantification Measures are Used.
Article in Clinical epidemiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Long-Acting versus Short-Acting Opioids and Opioid-Related Disorders in Chronic Non-Cancer Pain: A Claims Data Analysis in Germany.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose: To describe trends in prescribing of opioid analgesics in Germany using different quantification measures. Patients and Methods: We conducted annual cross-sectional studies for the years 2005 to 2020 based on the so-called German Pharmacoepidemiological Research Database (GePaRD; claims data covering ~20% of the German population). Opioid prescribing was assessed based on outpatient dispensations of opioid analgesics. For each year, we calculated the age- and sex-specific and -standardized prescription prevalence (number of persons with ≥1 prescription per 1000 persons) as well as the sum of oral morphine equivalents (OMEs) in mg per 1000 person-years. Results: The standardized prescription prevalence per 1000 persons showed a relative decrease by 14.1% between 2005 (52.3/1000) and 2016 (44.9/1000) and a further decrease by 5.6% until 2020 (42.4/1000). Based on the standardized OME per 1000 person-years, there was a relative increase by 51.4% until 2016 (2005: 191,987 mg; 2016: 290,733 mg) and a decrease by 5.3% thereafter (2020: 275,218 mg). Conclusion: In Germany, opposite trends for opioid prescription prevalence and OMEs were observed between 2005 and 2016, while after 2016, both quantification measures showed a decreasing trend. Our study illustrates that trends in prescribing of opioid analgesics can vary depending on the quantification measure; therefore, it is advisable to calculate both measures when monitoring opioid prescribing.
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.