Pregabalin prescribing patterns in Australian general practice, 2012–2018: a cross-sectional study

Andrea L Schaffer; Doreen Busingye; Kendal Chidwick; Jonathan Brett; Suzanne Blogg

doi:10.3399/bjgpopen20X101120

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Figure 1. Pregabalin prescriptions as a proportion of all prescriptions by subsidy status.
Legend: Excludes 6411 (1.6%) pregabalin prescriptions with missing prescription subsidy status. Prior to March 2013, pregabalin was only subsidised for veterans and their dependants. PBS = Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; RPBS = Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
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Figure 2. Proportion of active patients prescribed pregabalin by age group and sex, March 2012–February 2018 (n = 114 123).
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Figure 3. Prevalence of same-day prescribing of pregabalin and an opioid or benzodiazepine by recorded condition among patients prescribed pregabalin for whom capture of same-day prescribing was available, March 2012–February 2018 (n = 64 461).
Legend: Conditions not mutually exclusive as patients could have multiple conditions.

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Table 1. Characteristics of the full study cohort and people prescribed pregabalin, March 2012–February 2018

	All active patients (n = 1 891 623)	Patients prescribed pregabalin (n = 114 123)
n (%)	n (%)	Percentage of active patients, % (95% CI)^a
Sex
Female	1 087 939 (57.5)	68 311 (59.9)	6.3 (5.9 to 6.6)
Male	800 676 (42.3)	45 769 (40.1)	5.7 (5.4 to 6.0)
Missing	3008 (0.2)	43 (0.0)	1.4 (0.8 to 2.0)
Rurality of patient residence
Major city	1 204 426 (63.7)	63 456 (55.6)	5.3 (4.9 to 5.6)
Inner regional	440 727 (23.3)	33 852 (29.7)	7.7 (7.0 to 8.3)
Outer regional	200 543 (10.6)	14 706 (12.9)	7.3 (6.5 to 8.2)
Remote	29 386 (1.6)	1325 (1.2)	4.5 (3.2 to 5.8)
Very remote	5932 (0.3)	297 (0.3)	5.0 (3.4 to 6.6)
Missing	10 609 (0.6)	486 (0.4)	4.6 (3.9 to 5.3)
Socioeconomic status of patient residence (IRSAD quintiles)
1 (most disadvantaged)	304 870 (16.1)	25 821 (22.6)	8.5 (7.9 to 9.1)
2	291 603 (15.4)	19 685 (17.2)	6.8 (6.3 to 7.2)
3	422 368 (22.3)	27 975 (24.5)	6.6 (6.1 to 7.1)
4	375 468 (19.8)	18 461 (16.2)	4.9 (4.5 to 5.3)
5 (least disadvantaged)	480 485 (25.4)	21 421 (18.8)	4.5 (4.0 to 4.9)
Missing	16 829 (0.9)	760 (0.7)	4.5 (3.8 to 5.2)

^aConfidence intervals adjusted for clustering.
IRSAD
index of relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage

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Table 2. Pain diagnoses and conditions recorded during study period, March 2012–February 2018

	Patients with a neuropathic pain^a diagnosis	Patients without a neuropathic pain^a diagnosis	Total
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Total	56 772	100.0	57 351	100.0	114 123	100.0
Back problem^b	34 406	60.6	24 927	43.5	59 333	52.0
Chronic pain^b	6029	10.6	5073	8.8	11 102	9.7
Sciatica^b	13 657	24.1	–	–	13 657	12.0
No neuropathic pain, back problem or chronic pain	–	–	30 146	52.6	30 146	26.4

^aIncludes sciatica. ^bIndividuals may have multiple diagnoses.

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Table 3. Characteristics of people with same-day prescribing of pregabalin and an opioid or benzodiazepine among people prescribed pregabalin for whom capture of same-day prescribing was available, March 2012–February 2018 (n = 64 461)

	All active patients prescribed pregabalin, n (%)	Same-day prescribing of pregabalin and an opioid	Same-day prescribing of pregabalin and a benzodiazepine
n (%)	Percentage of patients prescribed pregabalin, % (95% CI)	n (%)	Percentage of patients prescribed pregabalin, % (95% CI)
n	64 461 (100.0)	24 554 (100.0)	38.1 (37.1 to 39.1)	8435 (100.0)	13.1 (13.5 to 13.7)
Sex
Female	39 058 (60.6)	14 376 (58.5)	36.8 (35.8 to 37.8)	5386 (63.9)	13.8 (13.2 to 14.4)
Male	25 380 (39.4)	10 170 (41.1)	40.1 (38.9 to 41.2)	3045 (36.1)	12.0 (11.3 to 12.7)
Missing	23 (0.0)	8 (0.0)	34.8 (13.0 to 56.6)	<5
Age group, years
18–19	132 (0.2)	36 (0.1)	26.9 (19.9 to 33.8)	8 (0.1)	6.0 (2.1 to 9.9)
20–29	2026 (3.1)	624 (2.5)	30.8 (28.4 to 33.2)	190 (2.3)	9.4 (7.9 to 10.9)
30–39	4899 (7.6)	1915 (7.8)	39.1 (37.0 to 41.2)	633 (7.5)	12.9 (11.7 to 14.2)
40–49	8760 (13.6)	3548 (14.4)	40.5 (39.0 to 42.0)	1191 (14.1)	13.6 (12.4 to 14.8)
50–59	11 834 (18.4)	4709 (19.2)	39.8 (38.5 to 41.1)	1539 (18.2)	13.0 (12.1 to 13.9)
60–69	13 912 (21.6)	5309 (21.6)	38.2 (36.9 to 39.4)	1745 (20.7)	12.5 (11.8 to 13.3)
70–79	13 548 (21.0)	4935 (20.1)	36.4 (35.3 to 37.6)	1732 (20.5)	12.8 (12.1 to 13.5)
80–89	7803 (12.1)	2904 (11.8)	37.2 (35.8 to 38.6)	1148 (13.6)	14.7 (13.7 to 15.8)
≥90	1545 (2.4)	574 (2.3)	37.2 (34.7 to 39.6)	249 (3.0)	16.1 (14.2 to 18.0)
Socioeconomic status of patient residence (IRSAD quintiles)
1 (most disadvantaged)	11 437 (17.7)	4739 (19.3)	41.4 (39.7, 43.2)	1586 (18.8)	13.9 (12.9 to 14.9)
2	11 671 (18.1)	4629 (18.9)	39.7 (37.9, 41.4)	1536 (18.2)	13.2 (11.9 to 14.4)
3	16 833 (26.1)	6408 (26.1)	38.1 (36.4, 39.7)	2178 (25.8)	12.9 (11.9 to 14.0)
4	11 261 (17.5)	4167 (17.0)	37.0 (35.6, 38.4)	1451 (17.2)	12.9 (12.0 to 13.8)
5 (least disadvantaged)	12 851 (19.9)	4443 (18.1)	34.6 (32.7, 36.4)	1635 (19.4)	12.7 (11.6 to 13.8)
Missing	408 (0.6)	168 (0.7)	41.2 (35.1, 47.3)	49 (0.6)	12.0 (8.4 to 15.6)

IRSAD
index of relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage

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