drug prescribing

WHICH NARCOTIC ANALGESICS ARE MOST POPULAR AND WHY?

A survey of the use of parenteral analgesics in 3 teaching hospitals and I non-teaching hospital in the Mecsey Region showed that pethidine and morphine (including papaveretum), and in some cases diamorphine, were the most popular narcotic analgesics, and pethidine the most widely used narcotic. The pattern of use was influenced by the size of hospital, percentage occupancy of hospital beds, the surgical specialty of the hospital and the prescribing habits of clinicians. In both types of hospital the synthetic narcotics were used more than the morphine alkaloids. The non-teaching hospital used about 10% more of these drugs than the teaching bospital, but the latter had about 2096 greater use of semi synthetics (mainly diamorphine). The teaching hospital used more fentanyl and phenoperidine but the non-teaching hospital had a greater use of piritramide. Use of methadone was low in both types of hospital. Chan, K. and Edwards, J.A.: Journal of Clinical Pharmacy 3: 253 (Dec 197~)

4 INPHARMA 3 Mar 1979 0156-2703/79/0303-0004 $00.50/0 © ADIS Press