Huang, Zhiran, Su, Xiawen, Diao, Yifan, Liu, Shiyang, Zhi, Mengjia, Geng, Shuai, Sun, Jing, and Liu, Yuanli
Little information is available on the need for opioid analgesics based on demographic, economic and disease spectrum data, or on patient affordability of opioid analgesics, in different regions of China. This study analysed the level of, and trends in, opioid analgesic use in different regions of China from 2006 to 2016, calculated the need for opioid analgesics based on demographic, economic and disease spectrum data from the different regions, and analysed the gap between need and actual consumption. Patient affordability of opioid analgesics for cancer pain management was also measured.