SALES OF TRANQUILIZERS, HYPNOTICS SEDATIVES AND ANTIDEPRESSANTS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH UNDERPRIVILEGED AREA SCORE AND MORTALITY AND SUICIDE RATES/

Objective: This study analyses the correlation between the Swedish und erprivileged area score and sales of tranquillizers, hypnotics/sedativ es, neuroleptics and antidepressants, and the correlation between thes e sales and mortality and suicide rates, with the aim of using sales d ata to identify areas with poor socioeconomic conditions. Setting: Sou thern Sweden, 33 municipalities in Skane, 1987 and 1994. Design: Ecolo gical study. Determined and undetermined cases of suicide were taken f rom the local death register for the years 1987-1993. Suicide rates (d etermined and undetermined cases) were calculated as the ratio between observed and expected number of suicides. Mortality for people aged 2 0-64 years was calculated from life tables for the decade 1981-1990. T he underprivileged area score was calculated for municipalities using the proportion of persons in the following groups: elderly living alon e, under 5 years of age, one-parent families, unskilled, unemployed, l iving in crowded households, those moving house in the previous year, and ethnic groups. After transformation (root arc sine) and standardiz ation, each of the eight variables was weighted by the British general practitioners average weighting and added to give the underprivileged area score. The selection of the eight variables was based on general practitioners' perceptions of the effect of the social characteristic s of the populations ill their respective residential areas on their w orkload or pressure on services. The total drug sales figures for tran quillizers, hypnotics/sedatives, neuroleptics and antidepressants are expressed in Defined Daily Doses per 1000 inhabitants per day. The rel ationship between these variables was analysed using Pearson's correla tion coefficient. Results: There was a moderate correlation (0.41-0.68 ) between the sales expressed as in Defined Daily Doses per 1000 inhab itants per day of tranquillizers and hypnotics/sedatives and underpriv ileged area score. Furthermore, the sales of tranquillizers and hypnot ics/ sedatives seemed to be moderately correlated with both mortality (0.44-0.67) and suicide (0.47-0.58). Conclusion: Sales of tranquillize rs or hypnotics/sedatives could be used with caution as markers for so cioeconomic conditions on the basis of their moderate ecological corre lation with a composite socioeconomic index such as the Swedish underp rivileged area score and their moderate correlation with mortality and suicide.