[Misuse of paracetamol in primary care: Cross-sectional study in a French rural context]

Shérazade Kinouani; Claire Vielle; Céline Lambert; Julie Dupouy; Catherine Laporte

doi:10.1016/j.therap.2023.11.005

[Misuse of paracetamol in primary care: Cross-sectional study in a French rural context]

Therapie. 2023 Nov 29:S0040-5957(23)00188-9. doi: 10.1016/j.therap.2023.11.005. Online ahead of print.

[Article in French]

Authors

Shérazade Kinouani¹, Claire Vielle², Céline Lambert³, Julie Dupouy⁴, Catherine Laporte⁵

Affiliations

¹ Inserm, Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Team HEALTHY, UMR 1219, université de Bordeaux, 33000 Bordeaux, France; Département de médecine générale, université de Bordeaux, 33000 Bordeaux, France. Electronic address: sherazade.kinouani@u-bordeaux.fr.
² Département de médecine générale, université de Bordeaux, 33000 Bordeaux, France.
³ Unité de biostatistiques, DRCI, CHU de Clermont-Ferrand, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
⁴ Département universitaire de médecine générale, faculté de santé, université Toulouse III Paul-Sabatier, 31062 Toulouse, France; Inserm, CERPOP, UMR 1295, université Paul-Sabatier, 31000 Toulouse, France.
⁵ Clermont-Auvergne INP, CNRS, institut Pascal, CHU de Clermont-Ferrand, université Clermont-Auvergne, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France; Département de médecine générale, université Clermont-Auvergne, 63001 Clermont-Ferrand, France.

PMID: 38246801
DOI: 10.1016/j.therap.2023.11.005

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of the paracetamol use for a reason other than pain (qualitative misuse) during the last 12 months in patients consulting their general practitioner, as well as the reasons for this misuse.

Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional analysis, with gender weighting to estimate the prevalence of paracetamol misuse.

Results: In total, data from 209 patients were included in the analysis. Among them, 11 patients declared having taken paracetamol for a reason other than pain, i.e., a gender-weighted prevalence of 5.7% (95% CI: 3.0 to 10.4). Nearly two-thirds of these patients said they had done it to feel better.

Conclusions: The paracetamol misuse is rare but real in general practice. Further studies are needed to better understand it, especially qualitative studies.

Keywords: Cross-sectional study; Misuse; Mésusage; Paracetamol; Paracétamol; Primary care; Soins primaires; Étude transversale.

Publication types

English Abstract