Geographic variation in the utilisation of specialist healthcare for patients with substance use disorders in Norway: a population-based registry study.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse geographic variation in rates of patients and service utilisation for persons with substance use disorders (SUD) across Norwegian hospital catchment areas from 2017 to 2021, considering both outpatient and Inpatient care across substance use diagnosis.

Method and material

This registry-based study used data from the Norwegian Patient Registry and Statistics Norway, covering 58,889 unique patients and 121,495 patient-years. Adjusted for age and sex this material yields a national SUD treatment rate of 14.0 per 1,000 over five years, on average 5.8 per year with a declining annual rate from 6.1-5.5. Analyses included diagnoses related to alcohol, opioids, cannabis, and other substances, excluding tobacco and opioid maintenance tr

SUBMITTER: Bedane HK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12770024 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature