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      Retrospective Cohort Study of the Prevalence of Off-label Gabapentinoid Prescriptions in Hospitalized Medical Patients

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          Abstract

          Gabapentinoid prescriptions are increasing in North America, with frequent off-label use despite limited proven efficacy. This retrospective cohort study describes prescribing trends among hospitalized patients with a focus on dosing and deprescribing. We examined consecutive inpatients between December 2013 and July 2017 on a 52-bed medical unit in Montréal, Canada. Prevalence of off-label use, median doses prescribed, and deprescribing trends were analyzed over time. Of 4,103 hospitalized patients, 550 (13.4%) were prescribed gabapentinoids preadmission, with two patients being coprescribed gabapentin and pregabalin (total 552 prescriptions). A minority (94/552, or 17%) were for approved indications. Although it was uncommon for gabapentinoids to be newly prescribed in hospital, preadmission gabapentinoids were also seldom deprescribed (65/495 patients discharged alive, or 13%). Given a high prevalence of use, limited efficacy, and potential harms, gabapentinoids may represent an ideal target for re-evaluation of indication and effectiveness in hospitalized adults, with consideration given to deprescribing.

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          Abuse and Misuse of Pregabalin and Gabapentin

          Gabapentinoid (pregabalin and gabapentin) abuse is increasingly being reported.
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            Medication-related falls in the elderly: causative factors and preventive strategies.

            People are living to older age. Falls constitute a leading cause of injuries, hospitalization and deaths among the elderly. Older people fall more often for a variety of reasons: alterations in physiology and physical functioning, and the use (and misuse) of medications needed to manage their multiple conditions. Pharmacological factors that place the elderly at greater risk of drug-related side effects include changes in body composition, serum albumin, total body water, and hepatic and renal functioning. Drug use is one of the most modifiable risk factors for falls and falls-related injuries. Fall-risk increasing drugs (FRIDs) include drugs for cardiovascular diseases (such as digoxin, type 1a anti-arrhythmics and diuretics), benzodiazepines, antidepressants, antiepileptics, antipsychotics, antiparkinsonian drugs, opioids and urological spasmolytics. Psychotropic and benzodiazepine drug use is most consistently associated with falls. Despite the promise of a more favourable side-effect profile, evidence shows that atypical antipsychotic medications and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants do not reduce the risk of falls and hip fractures. Despite multiple efforts with regards to managing medication-associated falls, there is no clear evidence for an effective intervention. Stopping or lowering the dose of psychotropic drugs and benzodiazepines does work, but ensuring a patient remains off these drugs is a challenge. Computer-assisted alerts coupled with electronic prescribing tools are a promising approach to lowering the risk of falls as the use of information technologies expands within healthcare.
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              Anticonvulsants in the treatment of low back pain and lumbar radicular pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

              BACKGROUND: The use of anticonvulsants (e.g., gabapentin, pregabalin) to treat low back pain has increased substantially in recent years despite limited supporting evidence. We aimed to determine the efficacy and tolerability of anticonvulsants in the treatment of low back pain and lumbar radicular pain compared with placebo. METHODS: A search was conducted in 5 databases for studies comparing an anticonvulsant to placebo in patients with nonspecific low back pain, sciatica or neurogenic claudication of any duration. The outcomes were self-reported pain, disability and adverse events. Risk of bias was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale, and quality of evidence was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Data were pooled and treatment effects were quantified using mean differences for continuous and risk ratios for dichotomous outcomes. RESULTS: Nine trials compared topiramate, gabapentin or pregabalin to placebo in 859 unique participants. Fourteen of 15 comparisons found anticonvulsants were not effective to reduce pain or disability in low back pain or lumbar radicular pain; for example, there was high-quality evidence of no effect of gabapentinoids versus placebo on chronic low back pain in the short term (pooled mean difference [MD] −0.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.8 to 0.7) or for lumbar radicular pain in the immediate term (pooled MD −0.1, 95% CI −0.7 to 0.5). The lack of efficacy is accompanied by increased risk of adverse events from use of gabapentinoids, for which the level of evidence is high. INTERPRETATION: There is moderate- to high-quality evidence that anticonvulsants are ineffective for treatment of low back pain or lumbar radicular pain. There is high-quality evidence that gabapentinoids have a higher risk for adverse events. Protocol registration: PROSPERO-CRD42016046363
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal of Hospital Medicine
                J Hosp Med
                Frontline Medical Communications, Inc.
                15535606
                15535592
                September 1 2019
                May 10 2019
                September 1 2019
                : 14
                : 9
                : 547-550
                Article
                10.12788/jhm.3203
                6715050
                31112498
                1945d6c0-9c8f-4b8f-a886-8c375fc35f39
                © 2019
                History

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