Domperidone Prescribing Practices Exposed Patients to Cardiac Risk despite a “Black Box” Warning: A Canadian Tertiary Care Center Study
Table 1
Baseline domperidone prescribing practices in 2005 and 2012 (after Health Canada advisory).
2005
2012
value
Characteristic
Mean age
62.4
67.9
<0.001
Initially prescribed in hospital
207 (71.4%)
113 (39.4%)
<0.001
Prior prescription stopped in hospital
1 (0.3%)
19 (6.6%)
<0.001
Dose > 30 mg/day
190 (65.5%)
136 (47.4%)
<0.001
Dose > 30 mg/day in patients > 60 y.o.
118 (40.7%)
83 (28.9%)
0.01
Indications
GERD
33 (11.4%)
86 (30.0%)
<0.001
Gastroparesis
8 (2.8%)
24 (8.4%)
0.003
Dyspepsia
3 (1.0%)
1 (0.3%)
0.6
Antiemesis
12 (4.1%)
7 (8.4%)
0.04
Parkinson’s with anti-Parkinsonian drugs
1 (0.3%)
3 (1.0%)
0.4
Unclear or nonapproved indications
246 (84.8%)
167 (58.2%)
<0.001
Note: GERD = gastroesophageal reflux disease. Significant difference in domperidone prescribing patterns between 2005 and 2012 ( value < 0.05 by test of difference).
