Restriction of non-opioid analgesics sold over-the-counter in Denmark: A national study of impact on poisonings.
Morthorst BR., Erlangsen A., Chaine M., Eriksson F., Hawton K., Dalhoff K., Nordentoft M.
OBJECTIVE: Self-poisoning with non-opioid analgesics presents a growing challenge to health care providers. We aimed to assess the impact of an 18-year age restriction of OTC sales and a pack size restriction of non-opioid analgesics sold OTC in pharmacies on hospital-treated poisonings and poisoning severity measured using biomarkers. METHODS: We applied a before and after design using interrupted time series analysis. Data on all poisonings recorded as hospital admissions were obtained during 2002-2015 and biochemical parameters from laboratory databases during 2011-2015, both covering the entire Danish population. RESULTS: The age restriction was followed by a 17% level reduction in admissions for non-opioid analgesic poisoning among young people age 10-17 years (RR 0.830; 95% CI 0.697-0.988; p