Background Understanding how analgesics are used in different countries can inform initiatives to improve the pharmacological management of pain in nursing homes. Aims To compare patterns of analgesic use among Australian and Japanese nursing home residents; and explore Australian and Japanese healthcare professionals’ perspectives on analgesic use. Methods Part one involved a cross-sectional comparison among residents from 12 nursing homes in South Australia (N = 550) in 2019 and four nursing homes in Tokyo (N = 333) in 2020. Part two involved three focus groups with Australian and Japanese healthcare professionals (N = 16) in 2023. Qualitative data were deductively content analysed using the World Health Organization six-step Guide to Good Prescribing. Results Australian and Japanese residents were similar in age (median: 89 vs 87) and sex (female: 73% vs 73%). Overall, 74% of Australian and 11% of Japanese residents used regular oral acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or opioids. Australian and Japanese healthcare professionals described individualising pain management and the first-line use of acetaminophen. Australian participants described their therapeutic goal was to alleviate pain and reported analgesics were often prescribed on a regular basis. Japanese participants described their therapeutic goal was to minimise impacts of pain on daily activities and reported analgesics were often prescribed for short-term durations, corresponding to episodes of pain. Japanese participants described regulations that limit opioid use for non-cancer pain in nursing homes. Conclusion Analgesic use is more prevalent in Australian than Japanese nursing homes. Differences in therapeutic goals, culture, analgesic regulations and treatment durations may contribute to this apparent difference.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚和日本疗养院疼痛药物管理的混合方法研究

背景 了解不同国家如何使用镇痛药可以为改善疗养院疼痛的药物管理的举措提供信息。目的 比较澳大利亚和日本疗养院居民的镇痛使用模式；并探讨澳大利亚和日本医疗保健专业人员对镇痛剂使用的看法。方法第一部分对 2019 年南澳大利亚 12 家疗养院 (N = 550) 和 2020 年东京 4 家疗养院 (N = 333) 的居民进行横断面比较。第二部分涉及澳大利亚和日本医疗保健的三个焦点小组2023 年专业人员（N = 16）。使用世界卫生组织良好处方六步指南对定性数据进行演绎内容分析。结果 澳大利亚和日本居民的年龄（中位数：89 比 87）和性别（女性：73% 比 73%）相似。总体而言，74% 的澳大利亚居民和 11% 的日本居民定期使用口服对乙酰氨基酚、非甾体抗炎药或阿片类药物。澳大利亚和日本的医疗保健专业人士描述了个性化疼痛管理和对乙酰氨基酚的一线使用。澳大利亚参与者表示，他们的治疗目标是减轻疼痛，据报道，他们经常定期服用止痛药。日本参与者表示，他们的治疗目标是尽量减少疼痛对日常活动的影响，据报道，镇痛药通常是短期使用的，与疼痛发作相对应。日本参与者描述了限制疗养院使用阿片类药物治疗非癌症疼痛的法规。结论 澳大利亚疗养院的镇痛使用比日本疗养院更为普遍。治疗目标、文化、镇痛规定和治疗持续时间的差异可能导致这种明显的差异。