Opioid prescriptions among Sami and non-Sami with chronic pain: The SAMINOR 2 Questionnaire Survey and the Norwegian Prescription Database

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Eriksen, Astrid M.A., Melhus, Marita, Schei, Berit, Skurtveit, Svetlana Ondrasova, Broderstad, Ann Ragnhild
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2023
• Subjects: Circumpolar Health; International Journal of Circumpolar Health; sami
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/30185; https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2023.2241202

This study is the first to investigate the prevalence of filled opioid prescriptions among indigenous Sami people with self-reported chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMSP) and compare it with that of non-Sami living in the same area. Baseline data from the SAMINOR 2 Questionnaire Survey (2012) was linked prospectively to the Norwegian Prescription Database. Information on filled opioid prescriptions during 2012–2019 was collected for 4767 persons who reported CMSP in SAMINOR 2. Gender-stratified chi-square tests, two-sample t-tests, Kruskal – Wallis tests, and multinomial logistic regression was applied. Two out of three CMSP respondents received no or only one prescription of opioids during 2012–2019. In each year, 80% of women received no opioids, 7–10% received one prescription of ≤ 180 defined daily doses (DDD), 8–9% received in total ≤ 180 DDD in two or more prescriptions, and 2–3% received > 180 DDD of opioids. Among men, 81–83% received no opioids, 8–11% received one prescription with ≤ 180 DDD, 5–9% received ≤ 180 DDD in two or more prescriptions, and 1–2% received > 180 DDD of opioids in a single year. There were no overall ethnic differences, which indicates a similar prescription policy for opioids for Sami and non-Sami with CMSP.