Charles Explorer logo
🇬🇧

Combination of Prescribed Opioid Analgesics with Alcohol or another Illegal Drug

Publication at First Faculty of Medicine |
2012

Abstract

Researches by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) done in the years 2006 and 2009 (How Young Adults Obtain Prescription Pain Relieves for Nonmedical Use a Trends in Nonmedical Use of Prescription: 2002 to 2007) are suggesting the evidence of the trends in abusing prescribed opioid analgesics. The topic is a little discussed by the researches and other authorities in the Czech republic, without sufficient evidence.

AIM: The aim of the pilot study was focused on establishing the ratio of opioid analgesics abuse in the czech conditions and on the sample of the czech pain chronic patients attending the Centers and Policlinics for pain treatment. METHODS: The pilot study was performed in the form of the survey: i) with the chronic pain patients treated by the opioid analgesics medication for at least two years (N = 99); ii) with the doctors and the nurses of the Centers and Policlinics for pain treatment (N = 4).

Processed data are mostly presented in the graphs and the contigency tables with propriate p-value and chi-square test for independence of two categorial variables. RESULTS: The final sample of the participients (N=83) helped to find out the facts that 17 participients (20,5 %) used the prescribed opioid analgesics without medical indication; 19 participients (22,9 %) combined the opioid analgesics with alcohol and 17 participients (20,5 %) combined the prescribed medication with non-alcoholic drug.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the collected data in the group of the final sample (N = 83) in this pilot study we had pointed out to the problems connected to highly often occured combination of prescribed opioid analgesics and over-the-counter medications or alcohol in the age group of 50 – 64 years. Recommendations refering to the next proceeding in case of continuing in this study.

Choice of another method for qualifying data and collecting them.