Pharmacodependence

Aim. This study presents the OPEMA (Observation des pharmacodépendances en médecine ambulatoire) programme and the main results of its last annual survey (november 2010). Method. Collected data concern mainly subjects' sociodemographic situation, their state of health and their current consumption of psychoactive substance. Results. In 2010, 1394 subjects have been included, describing 2 450 consumptions of psychoactive susbtance. Their mean age is 38,2±12,7 years. Eighty-six per cent have a stable accomodation and 52% are in employment...

UNLABELLED: The aim of our study is to evaluate the extent of agreement between pharmacodependence to benzodiazepines, as diagnosed by doctors and as self evaluated by patients, using DSM-IV dependence criteria. Method. This is a prospective study. INCLUSION CRITERIA: prescription of a benzodiazepines or related substances. DATA COLLECTION: doctor questionnaire and patient questionnaire filled anonymously and independently. Main judgment criterion: rate of agreement between doctor diagnosis (is this patient dependent?), and patient evaluation (dependence is positive if at least 3 of the DSM-IV items are met)...

INTRODUCTION: Lots of similar vulnerabilities to substance use disorders are described in the literature: clinical, genetics, family, environment, etc. Although, when we follow up patients, we know perfectly well that there are also differences due to the substance mainly causing addiction. But we found very little research on the differences between various substance use disorders according to the substance mainly causing dependence. HYPOTHESIS: Our main hypothesis was that significant differences do not exist in medical and social data between patients with substance use disorders according to the substance mainly used...

The authors present a pharmaco-epidemiological method for the characterization of drug overconsumption. Using the database of a French regional health insurance office, a comparison was made between patients receiving doses higher than recommended and all patients receiving normal doses of two antidepressant drugs (tianeptine and milnacipran). Logistic regression models were used to identify the variables related to overconsumption. The selected variables were different for each antidepressant and provided a good characterization of overconsumption features: insufficient effectiveness and severity of the condition for milnacipran and abuse/misuse for tianeptine...

Between 2000 and 2008, the American Association of Poison Control Centers recorded 1439 cases in which drugs or alcohol were used to mistreat children under 7 years of age, representing an average of 160 reports per year. Median age was 2 years, and 57% of victims were boys. The substances included psychotropic drugs, analgesics, cold remedies, alcohol, and illicit drugs. 18 children died, while 32 children experienced life-threatening effects or residual disability. It is not clear whether these results can be extrapolated to the French population...

Recent observations suggest the existence of clonazepam abuse. To determine its importance in France, a quantitative and systematic synthesis of all clonazepam data of several epidemiological tools of the Centers for Evaluation and Information on Pharmacodependence (CEIP) network has been performed in comparison with data on others benzodiazepines (BZD). Data on clonazepam and other BZD have been analysed from different epidemiological tools: OSIAP survey that identifies drugs obtained by means of falsified prescriptions, Observation of Illegal Drugs and Misuse of Psychotropic Medications (OPPIDUM) survey that describes modalities of use and data from regional French health reimbursement system...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the evolution of buprenorphine prescription form characteristics before and after the application of a measure of the French Social Security system aimed to encourage the use of generic drugs. METHOD: All buprenorphine prescription forms issued to sixty-two patients subjected to follow-up in 6 community pharmacies were analysed between October 2007 and February 2008. RESULTS: Patients maintained on Subutex during the whole follow-up were more numerous (n=39), younger, and received a higher daily dose of buprenorphine (10...

INTRODUCTION: The data on consumption of psychoactive substances among new prisoners are documented but not detailed with precision. Nevertheless, analyzing the consumption's characteristics of psychoactive products would led to a better caring of subjects at the entry in the prison. The consumption of psychoactive drugs the week before the imprisonments of subjects seen in prison were studied from the Observation of Illegal Drugs and Misuse of Psychotropic Medications (OPPIDUM) program's between 2003 and 2006...

The aim of this meeting was to describe the news trends about abuse and addiction of anxiolytics and hypnotics. The part II of this meeting reviewed several aspects of the withdrawing benzodiazepines focusing in particular on clinical symptoms, biological patterns, and strategies for discontinuation. The discontinuation is usually beneficial due to the importance of adverse effects induced by long-term use of benzodiazepines. Several clinicals options have been described including gradual tapering of the current benzodiazepine, substitution with a long acting benzodiazepines or treating the symptoms of withdrawal...

The second meeting of the French CEIP (Centres d'Evaluation et d'Information sur la Pharmacodépendance) was organized during the annual congress of the French Society of Pharmacology Therapeutics and Physiology in 2008. The aim of this meeting was to update the knowledge on abuse and dependence of the anxiolytics and hypnotics from different points of view (pharmacoepidemiology, epidemiology and treatment). The first part of this meeting summarized the pharmacological data obtained by the pharmacoepidemiological tools developed by the CEIP network...

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this case/non-case study was to assess and compare the risk of drug dependence associated with different migraine-specific drugs, i.e., ergot derivatives and triptans, using the French pharmacovigilance database. METHODS: Reports on drug side effects recorded in this database between January 1985 and June 2007 were analyzed, and triptans (almotriptan, eletriptan, naratriptan, sumatriptan, and zolmitriptan) as well as ergot derivatives used in acute migraine were examined...

GOAL: Make it possible to spot falsified prescriptions which were delivered and reimbursed. METHOD: 1- Use health insurance administration data bases to single patients liable to suspicion of fraud (repeated presentations of the same prescription to several pharmacies the same day) 2- Attribution of a diagnosis of fraud, by the CEIP (Center of Evaluation and Information about Pharmacodependence) based on transferred data, and by the medical department analysis of the complete file, and convocation when applicable 3- Calculation of quantitative performance of the tool...

Psychoactive substances may be administered without the knowledge of a victim in order to induce incapacitation and thus facilitate criminal actions. The characteristics of the victims and the drugs used in such suspected chemical submissions (CS) were analyzed in 309 cases collected from October 2003 to December 2007 through a national survey. Out of 309 cases, 158 met all criteria of CS. The victims were mostly female (n = 89, 56%). The type of aggression was mostly sexual assault (in 79 cases 50%). Benzodiazepines and related drugs were detected in 129 victims (82%) and were mostly clonazepam, zolpidem, and bromazepam whereas flunitrazepam and gamma hydroxybutyrate, well known for their use in CS, were identified in 11 (7%) and five (3%) of the 158 victims...

The French system for the evaluation of abuse and dependence created in 1990 was definitely implemented in 1999 with the decree no99-249 making in particular mandatory the reporting of all serious cases of abuse or dependence to psychoactive drugs. This decree was also important to define the role of each party (regulatory agencies, pharmaceutical companies, health professionals and the network of the regional Centres for Evaluation and Information of Pharmacodependence) for all marketed psychoactive drugs in France...

In France, the Afssaps is the body in charge of the evaluation of pharmacodependance. In order to fulfil its mission, the Afssaps has created a network of 10 Centres for Evaluation and Information on Pharmacodependance (CEIP), coordinated by the Drugs and Psychotropics Unit. Pharmacodependence notifications issued by professionals are collected by each Centre which evaluates them: it is therefore necessary to harmonize case reporting and make it possible to homogeneously evaluate the seriousness of pharmacodependence cases...

OBJECTIVE: To describe patterns of drug diversion from 2001 to 2004 in France and to define different profiles of forged prescriptions. METHODS: Data from a national cross sectional survey carried out each year since 2001 were analysed. A national network of community pharmacies is requested to collect suspect prescriptions during two periods each year in May and November. Data included were date, age and sex of the patient, type of prescription form, drugs and criteria of suspicion...

AIM: To show that the nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic zolpidem has a higher abuse potential than previously documented. METHOD: An official enquiry was carried out by the Nantes Centre for Evaluation and Information on Pharmacodependence (CEIP). The authors made a review of literature and analysed French data corresponding to the drug's postmarketing period collected by the CEIP network from 1993 to 2002. RESULTS: The literature review yielded mixed results concerning the behavioural effects of zolpidem...

INTRODUCTION: Consumption of high doses of psychotropic drugs is a public health problem in France. The Center for Evaluation and Information on Pharmacodependence and the General Health Insurance System decided that it was time to begin a regional programme on excessive consumption in a French region. PURPOSE: The objectives of this programme were: (1) get health professionals (doctors and pharmacists) to realize that some of their patients were consuming excessive doses, and (2) achieve a decrease of excessive psychotropic drug use...

INTRODUCTION: The abuse of licit and illicit psychoactive substances in children and teenagers represents a public health problem. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of this phenomenon and its growth in the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) region (Southeastern France). The cases identified during the 10-year period 1992-2002 by the CEIP (Centre d'Evaluation et d'Information sur la Pharmacodépendance) were studied retrospectively...

In France, the observation and evaluation of drug abuse and dependence associated with pychoactive medications are the responsibility of the National Commission for Narcotics and Psychotropic Drugs. In order to assist this commission, several centres for evaluation and information on pharmacodependence (CEIP) were created throughout in France. Recently, in order to complete their epidemiological tools, several centres have developed another pharmacoepidemiological approach using data for refunded prescriptions obtained from the local and regional French Health Insurance database...