ArticlePsychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors2018
A qualitative analysis of gabapentin misuse and diversion among people who use drugs in Appalachian Kentucky.
Article in Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Healthcare Practitioner and Other Professionals' Perspectives on Gabapentinoid Misuse and Dependence: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic review: The relationship between gabapentinoids, etizolam, and drug related deaths in Scotland.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Characterizing the Relationship Between Nonmedical Use of Gabapentin and Gabapentin Prescribing Among Individuals With Opioid Use Disorder.Journal of addiction medicine · 2026Article
- Addressing the unanswered questions: a qualitative exploration focusing on community dwellers using pregabalin without prescription in Islamabad city, Pakistan.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Changing Trends in Nonmedical Gabapentin Use Among a Cohort of Rural Appalachian People Who Use Drugs: A Longitudinal Study Over the Time Period of Scheduling Changes in Kentucky.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Evaluating health-related quality of life and health resource utilization among Gabapentinoid users with substance use disorder in the US: Trends, co-prescriptions, and cost analysis.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Gabapentinoid Dispensing to Children and Adolescents in the U.S.American journal of preventive medicine · 2025Article
- Gabapentin Use Among Individuals Initiating Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder.JAMA psychiatry · 2023Article
- Gabapentinoid consumption in 65 countries and regions from 2008 to 2018: a longitudinal trend study.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Gabapentinoid misuse, abuse and non-prescribed obtainment in a United States general population sample.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2021Article
- Electroacupuncture prevents cocaine-induced conditioned place preference reinstatement and attenuates ΔFosB and GluR2 expression.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Gabapentinoid Use and Misuse Among Texas Medicaid Recipients.Clinical drug investigation · 2021Article
- Alterations in Excitatory and Inhibitory Synaptic Development Within the Mesolimbic Dopamine Pathway in a Mouse Model of Prenatal Drug Exposure.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Article
- Current Evidence on Abuse and Misuse of Gabapentinoids.Drug safety · 2020Review
- A Qualitative Examination of Gabapentin Misuse Inside of Treatment and Recovery Settings.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2020Article
- Trends in Gabapentin Prescribing in a Commercially Insured U.S. Adult Population, 2009-2016.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2020Article
- Factors Associated with Gabapentin Misuse among People Who Inject Drugs in Appalachian Kentucky.Substance use & misuse · 2020Article
- Gabapentin drug misuse signals: A pharmacovigilance assessment using the FDA adverse event reporting system.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2020Article
- Intranasal Pregabalin Administration: A Review of the Literature and the Worldwide Spontaneous Reporting System of Adverse Drug Reactions.Brain sciences · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant and analgesic for postherpetic neuralgia, has been thought to have no abuse potential despite numerous published reports to the contrary. Gabapentin has been linked with impaired driving and opioid use, highlighting the need to more fully understand its risk profile. Thirty-three individuals reporting recent nonmedical use of gabapentin were recruited from two ongoing longitudinal studies of drug users in Appalachian Kentucky to participate in focus groups. Four sessions were held (two in the community and two in jail settings), during which participants responded to questions regarding their personal experiences with gabapentin misuse. Focus group participants were similar to other gabapentin users in the larger cohort studies with respect to demographics and drug use behaviors. Overall, the sample reported having initiated gabapentin more than 10 years earlier after having it prescribed for a legitimate, though generally off-label, medical indication (e.g., pain, anxiety, opioid detoxification). Participants reported use of gabapentin in combination with buprenorphine, other opioids, cocaine, and caffeine to produce sought-after central nervous system effects (e.g., muscle relaxation, pain reduction, sleep induction, feeling drunk, and feeling "high"). Focus group responses highlighted the low cost of gabapentin for the purpose of getting high and noted increasing popularity in the community, particularly over the last 2 years. Gabapentin was a prominent drug of abuse in two cohorts of the primarily opioid-using individuals. Providers should be aware of gabapentin's abuse potential, and a reexamination of the need for scheduling is warranted. (PsycINFO Database Record
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.