Dental Pain Medication Prescriptions in Minas Gerais, Brazil (2011–2021): A Time-Series Analysis

Alex Junio Silva Cruz, Maria Auxiliadora Parreiras Martins, Victor Santos Batista, Henrique Pereira de Aguilar Penido, Jacqueline Silva Santos, Thiago Rezende dos Santos, Woosung Sohn, Lia Silva de Castilho and Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães Abreu ()
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Alex Junio Silva Cruz: Graduate Dental Program, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antonio Carlos, Belo Horizonte 31270901, Brazil
Maria Auxiliadora Parreiras Martins: Department of Pharmaceutical Products, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antonio Carlos, Belo Horizonte 31270901, Brazil
Victor Santos Batista: Undergraduate Dental Program, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antonio Carlos, Belo Horizonte 31270901, Brazil
Henrique Pereira de Aguilar Penido: Undergraduate Math Program, Institute of Exact Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antonio Carlos, Belo Horizonte 31270901, Brazil
Jacqueline Silva Santos: Oral Health Department for the State of Minas Gerais, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31630-901, Brazil
Thiago Rezende dos Santos: Department of Statistics, Institute of Exact Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antonio Carlos, Belo Horizonte 31270901, Brazil
Woosung Sohn: Discipline of Population Oral Health, School of Dentistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Lia Silva de Castilho: Department of Operative Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antonio Carlos, Belo Horizonte 31270901, Brazil
Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães Abreu: Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antonio Carlos, Belo Horizonte 31270901, Brazil

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 18, 1-11

Abstract: To describe trends of dentist-prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics, from January 2011 to December 2021, as well as to examine the relationship between these trends and characteristics of public oral health services in Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this time-series analysis, all drugs were classified according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system. Drugs categorized as NSAIDs (M01A), and other analgesics and antipyretics (N02B) were included for analysis. The outcome was the number of Defined Daily Doses (DDDs)/1000 inhabitants/year for NSAIDs and analgesics in each town. Covariates referred to characteristics of public oral health services, such as coverage, estimates of dental procedures, and frequency of toothache. Linear time-series regression models were used to determine the influence of covariates on the outcome. Overall, there were 58,482 prescriptions of NSAIDs recorded in thirty-eight towns, while 47,499 prescriptions of analgesics in forty-three towns. For each year, there was a 0.38 ( p < 0.001), and 0.28 ( p < 0.001) increase in the average log of DDD/1000 inhabitants/year for NSAIDs and analgesics, respectively. A positive association was detected between toothache ( p < 0.001) and the prescription of NSAIDs. Over the eleven years, there was a general rising trend in the prescriptions. Toothache was the only characteristic of public oral health services associated with the prescription rates of NSAIDs, implying that as the frequency of toothaches increase, so do the prescriptions of NSAIDs in the studied towns.

Keywords: analgesics; anti-inflammatory agents; non-steroidal; prescriptions; dentistry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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