Trends in gabapentinoid prescribing: A nationwide Danish drug utilization study

Aims Pregabalin and gabapentin are increasingly used for pain and other conditions. Concerns exist about overuse as well as potential misuse and abuse. To guide rational prescribing practices, we provide detailed nationwide data on the use of gabapentinoids in Denmark. Methods We conducted a nationw...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of clinical pharmacology Vol. 91; no. 9; pp. 2515 - 2523
Main Authors: Pottegård, Anton, Rasmussen, Lotte, Olesen, Morten, Skov Sørensen, Anne Mette, Ennis, Zandra Nymand, Kane, Joseph, Baxter, Sarah, Hicks, Blánaid
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England John Wiley and Sons Inc 01.09.2025
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Analgesics - therapeutic use
clinical pharmacology
Denmark - epidemiology
Drug Prescriptions - statistics & numerical data
drug utilization
Drug Utilization - statistics & numerical data
Drug Utilization - trends
epidemiology pain
Female
Gabapentin - administration & dosage
Gabapentin - therapeutic use
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Original
pharmacoepidemiology
Practice Patterns, Physicians' - statistics & numerical data
Practice Patterns, Physicians' - trends
Pregabalin - administration & dosage
Pregabalin - therapeutic use
prescribing
Registries - statistics & numerical data
Young Adult
Denmark
clinical pharmacology
prescribing
drug utilization
epidemiology pain
pharmacoepidemiology
ISSN:0306-5251, 1365-2125, 1365-2125
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Aims Pregabalin and gabapentin are increasingly used for pain and other conditions. Concerns exist about overuse as well as potential misuse and abuse. To guide rational prescribing practices, we provide detailed nationwide data on the use of gabapentinoids in Denmark. Methods We conducted a nationwide descriptive drug utilization study using the Danish healthcare registries to describe the use of gabapentinoids among Danish adults 2010–2023. We described overall use patterns, temporal trends, user characteristics, skewness of use, treatment duration and concomitant medication use. Results The prevalence of gabapentinoid use increased almost four‐fold from 11 per 1000 adults in 2010 to 41 in 2023 with the highest use among individuals aged 80+ years (96 per 1000 in 2023). Gabapentin and pregabalin were used equally. The median age of users increased from 58 years in 2010 to 63 years in 2023, while a decline was observed in the proportion with concomitant use of other drug classes, including benzodiazepines or opioids. Only 7% of patients were continuously treated for 3 years following initiation, while 22% were currently treated after 3 years (allowing treatment breaks). The use of gabapentinoids were somewhat skewed with 1% of users accounting for 7.3% of use in 2023. Conclusion The use of gabapentinoids has increased dramatically in recent years, in particular, among the elderly, and adherence was low. Increased attention to the increasing use of gabapentinoids is warranted to ensure rational use of this drug class.
Bibliography:Funding information
There are no relevant funding sources to disclose.
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
Funding information There are no relevant funding sources to disclose.
ISSN:0306-5251
1365-2125
1365-2125
DOI:10.1002/bcp.70060