@article{ref1,
title="3-year prevalence of alcohol-related disorders in German patients treated with high-potency opioids",
journal="Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety",
year="2012",
author="Jobski, Kathrin and Schmid, Ulrike and Behr, Sigrid and Andersohn, Frank and Garbe, Edeltraut",
volume="21",
number="10",
pages="1125-1129",
abstract="PURPOSE: In November 2010, the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use completed a review of the safety and effectiveness of modified-release oral high-potency opioids (HPO). The reason for this referral procedure was the concern that some of these controlled-release systems may be unstable when co-ingested with alcohol and that the active substance would be released too quickly. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol-related disorders (ARD) in German patients treated with HPO approved for pain therapy. METHODS: The source of data was the German Pharmacoepidemiological Research Database including more than 14 million members of four statutory health insurances. The age and sex standardized 3-year prevalence of ARD in patients treated with any type of HPO and in patients receiving modified-release oral HPO was compared with the prevalence of ARD in the general population excluding HPO-treated patients. RESULTS: The age and sex standardized prevalence of ARD was significantly higher in patients treated with any type of HPO (5.5%, 95%confidence interval [CI]: 5.2%-5.9%) or with modified-release HPO (5.4%, 95%CI: 4.8%-5.9%) than in persons belonging to the general population (2.2%, 95%CI: 2.2-2.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Interactions with alcohol in patients receiving modified-release HPO may be of relevance in a substantial number of patients. Physicians should be aware of this potentially dangerous interaction. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1053-8569",
doi="10.1002/pds.3268",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pds.3268"
}