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Association of sociodemographic factors with the prescription pattern of opioids for dental patients: a systematic review

Evidence-Based Dentistry (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Aim To evaluate the association of patients' sociodemographic factors (sex, age, ethnicity, income, educational level, living environment and health insurance) with the prescription pattern of opioids provided by oral health practitioners.

Methods Observational studies that evaluated the association of patients' sociodemographic factors and the likelihood of receiving an opioid prescription provided by an oral health practitioner were eligible. Electronic searches were conducted in Medline (PubMed), Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, LILACS, SciELO, Google Scholar, and OpenGrey up to March 2021. Two authors independently screened the studies, performed data extraction, and assessed the risk-of-bias using the critical appraisal tools developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). Certainty of the evidence was assessed with the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE).

Results Eight studies were included in this systematic review. Publication year ranged from 2011 to 2021. Narrative synthesis showed with very low certainty of evidence that younger individuals were more likely to receive a prescription of opioids than older individuals. Regarding the other sociodemographic factors and the prescriptions of opioids in dentistry, the evidence is controversial. Risk of bias was low for most items assessed in the included studies.

Conclusion The available evidence suggests that there is an association between patients' sociodemographic factors and the prescription patterns of opioids provided by oral health practitioners.

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Acknowledgements

Data availability statement: the data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The authors ensure that no previously published illustrations were used in this study.

Funding

Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães de Abreu is fellow research at the National Research Council (Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa [CNPq]). Fellowship nº: 303772/2019-0. Lucas Guimarães Abreu is fellow research at the National Research Council (Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa [CNPq]). Fellowship nº: 310797/2019-5. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Alex Junio Silva Cruz & Suellen da Rocha Mendes

  2. Department of Child´s and Adolescent´s Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Lucas Guimarães Abreu

  3. Department of Operative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Lia Silva de Castilho

  4. Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães de Abreu

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Contributions

AJSC worked on the study conceptualisation, design, development of the search strategy, search and selection of studies to be included in the review. AJSC also worked on the extraction of quantitative and qualitative data, risk of bias assessment, interpretation of the data, drafting of the manuscript, and approval of the final version of the manuscript as submitted. LGA worked on study conceptualisation, design, development of the search strategy, data analysis, critically review of the manuscript, and approval of the final version of the manuscript as submitted. SRM worked on selection of studies to be included in the review and in the approval of the final version of the manuscript as submitted. LSC worked on study conceptualisation, critical review of the manuscript, and approval of the final version of the manuscript as submitted. MHNGA worked on study conceptualisation, design, extraction and management of quantitative and qualitative data, risk of bias assessment, interpretation of the data, critical review of the manuscript, and approval of the final version of the manuscript as submitted.

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Correspondence to Alex Junio Silva Cruz.

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Cruz, A., Abreu, L., da Rocha Mendes, S. et al. Association of sociodemographic factors with the prescription pattern of opioids for dental patients: a systematic review. Evid Based Dent (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41432-022-0282-7

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