Pregabalin Prescription for Neuropathic Pain and Fibromyalgia: A Descriptive Study Using Administrative Database in Japan
Table 1
Characteristics of pregabalin-prescribed patients.
All
Outpatient
Inpatient
value
45331
37045
8286
Sex (male), (%)
22085 (48.7)
17692 (47.8)
4393 (53.0)
<0.001
Age, mean (SD)
66.8 (13.9)
66.4 (14.0)
69.0 (13.3)
<0.001
Initial daily dose, mg
Mean (SD)
97.3 (56.7)
95.5 (55.7)
105.4 (60.5)
<0.001
(%)
<50 mg
5737 (12.7)
4733 (12.8)
1004 (12.1)
—
≥50 mg, <75 mg
8691 (19.2)
7596 (20.5)
1095 (13.2)
—
≥75 mg, <150 mg
13139 (29.0)
10687 (28.8)
2452 (29.6)
—
≥150 mg
17764 (39.2)
14029 (37.9)
3735 (45.1)
—
Maximum daily dose, mg
Mean (SD)
127.8 (87.0)
123.6 (82.5)
146.2 (102.5)
<0.001
(%)
<150 mg
21468 (47.4)
18162 (49.0)
3306 (39.9)
—
≥150 mg, <300 mg
19763 (43.6)
15913 (43.0)
3850 (46.5)
—
≥300 mg
4100 (9.0)
2970 (8.0)
1130 (13.6)
—
Prescription period, day
Mean (SD)
111.9 (124.2)
118.5 (126.8)
82.6 (107.0)
<0.001
Median (25, 75 percentile)
53 (21, 163)
56 (21, 182)
36 (14, 94)
<0.001
Prescription period over 90 days, (%)
16762 (37.0)
14595 (39.4)
2167 (26.2)
<0.001
Change in dose, (%)
12205 (26.9)
9584 (25.9)
2621 (31.6)
<0.001
Coprescribed oral drugs, mean (SD)
4.2 (3.7)
3.9 (3.6)
5.7 (4.0)
<0.001
Coprescribed analgesics, (%)
1-2-Line drugs
4698 (10.4)
4017 (10.8)
681 (8.2)
<0.001
TCAs
615 (1.4)
473 (1.3)
142 (1.7)
—
Gabapentin
160 (0.4)
120 (0.3)
40 (0.5)
—
Neurotropin
3656 (8.1)
3256 (8.8)
400 (4.8)
—
Duloxetine
258 (0.6)
178 (0.5)
80 (1.0)
—
Mexiletine
217 (0.5)
162 (0.4)
55 (0.7)
—
Opioids
3843 (8.5)
2117 (5.7)
1726 (20.8)
<0.001
Oral opioids
3071 (6.8)
1825 (4.9)
1246 (15.0)
—
Nonoral opioids
790 (1.7)
275 (0.7)
515 (6.2)
—
Strong opioids
2219 (4.9)
954 (2.6)
1265 (15.3)
—
Weak opioids
1688 (3.7)
1184 (3.2)
504 (6.1)
—
NSAIDs
17303 (38.2)
13657 (36.9)
3646 (44.0)
<0.001
Neuropathic pain-related disorders, (%)
Spinal disorders
23502 (51.8)
21144 (57.1)
2358 (28.5)
<0.001
Postherpetic neuropathy
2795 (6.2)
2435 (6.6)
360 (4.3)
<0.001
Diabetic neuropathy
1478 (3.3)
1244 (3.4)
234 (2.8)
0.014
Cancer-related pain
3933 (8.7)
2172 (5.9)
1761 (21.3)
<0.001
Trigeminal neuralgia
780 (1.7)
713 (1.9)
67 (0.8)
<0.001
Entrapment peripheral neuropathy of the upper limb
1329 (2.9)
1251 (3.4)
78 (0.9)
<0.001
Other neuropathic pain disorders
11564 (25.5)
9728 (26.3)
1836 (22.2)
—
Fibromyalgia
153 (0.3)
127 (0.3)
26 (0.3)
0.681
Others
3178 (7.0)
1113 (3.0)
2065 (24.9)
—
1-2-line drugs: first- and second-line drugs of the Japanese guideline; TCAs: tricyclic antidepressants (amitriptyline hydrochloride, imipramine hydrochloride, and nortriptyline hydrochloride); neurotropin; extract of cutaneous tissue of rabbit inoculated with vaccinia virus. Patients in these categories are not mutually exclusive. —, statistical analyses not performed.
