ArticleArchives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique2018
Utilization of gabapentin by people in treatment for substance use disorders in Belgium (2011-2014): a cross-sectional study.
Article in Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough gabapentin has been licensed in the European Union only for neuropathic pain and epilepsy for patients who have partial seizures, it has also been prescribed in treatment for substance use disorders. Many studies report the potential risk of abuse of gabapentin by people with substance use disorders. The objective of this paper is to determine if people who have been in treatment for substance use disorders bought gabapentin in a time span that could indicate consumption at a dose that exceeded the maximum approved dose of 3600 mg/day.
methodsThis analysis is the result of an observational cross-sectional descriptive study with matching. Two datasets were used and linked at individual level. Subjects were selected based on their first registration in the database of the Treatment Demand Indicator (TDI) between 2011 and 2014, without any exclusion criteria concerning nationality or age. Through linkage with the database of the InterMutualistic Agency (IMA) information on health service use and medication use was determined. In addition, each subject was matched on age, sex and place of residence to four comparators from the general population who were not in specialized treatment. The prevalence of gabapentin purchases in the period between 2008 and 2014 for both populations were compared. Quantification of the amount of gabapentin between two consecutive purchases was used as a proxy for potential abuse.
resultsOut of 30,905 patients in treatment for substance use disorders 2.7% had bought at least once gabapentin in a public pharmacy or received it from a hospital pharmacy, compared to 0.7% in the comparison group (
conclusionThrough the linkage of the TDI-database and the database of the Belgian health insurance companies, no evidence was found for regular abuse of prescribed gabapentin in Belgium by people in treatment for substance use disorders.
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