TABLE 4.
Characteristics of Pharmacy Program Members Who Changed Versus Members Who Did Not Change from Pregabalin to Gabapentin in the Post-index Period
| Pharmacy Program: Pre-index Characteristics | Pharmacy Program: Post-index Characteristics | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change to Gabapentin | P Valuea | Change to Gabapentin | P Valuea | |||
| Yes (n = 378) | No (n = 840) | Yes (n = 378) | No (n = 840) | |||
| Age, years | 51.7 (10.7) | 50.1 (10.5) | 0.015 | |||
| Female, n (%) | 279 (73.8) | 650 (77.4) | 0.175 | |||
| Charlson Comorbidity Index score | 1.25 (1.60) | 0.94 (1.38) | 0.001 | |||
| Pregabalin-indicated condition,b n (%) | ||||||
| Diabetic peripheral neuropathy | 87 (23.0) | 116 (13.8) | < 0.001 | |||
| Fibromyalgia | 280 (74.1) | 664 (79.1) | 0.054 | |||
| Postherpetic neuralgia | 5 (1.3) | 22 (2.6) | 0.155 | |||
| Partial onset seizure | 17 (4.5) | 79 (9.4) | 0.003 | |||
| Any opioid use (at least 1 claim, short- or long-acting), n (%) | 241 (63.8) | 497 (59.2) | 0.129 | 240 (63.5) | 481 (57.3) | 0.041 |
| Any TCA use (at least 1 claim), n (%) | 59 (15.6) | 125 (14.9) | 0.743 | 65 (17.2) | 102 (12.1) | 0.018 |
| Any SSRI use (at least 1 claim), n (%) | 127 (33.6) | 240 (28.6) | 0.077 | 120 (31.8) | 216 (25.7) | 0.029 |
| Any SNRI use (at least 1 claim), n (%) | 136 (36.0) | 321 (38.2) | 0.456 | 133 (35.2) | 312 (37.1) | 0.512 |
| All-cause health care costs ($) | ||||||
| Total | 33,328 (59,948) | 26,900 (42,789) | 0.038 | 32,241 (59,951) | 25,603 (44,145) | 0.054 |
| Medical | 25,871 (49,694) | 20,057 (39,800) | 0.046 | 23,975 (58,180) | 17,936 (41,880) | 0.070 |
| Pharmacy | 7,458 (11,084) | 6,842 (7,482) | 0.326 | 8,266 (10,654) | 7,667 (8,573) | 0.336 |
| All-cause health care utilizations | ||||||
| At least 1 office visit, n (%) | 377 (99.7) | 840 (100.0) | 0.136 | 377 (99.7) | 838 (99.8) | 0.931 |
| At least 1 outpatient visit, n (%) | 308 (81.5) | 680 (81.0) | 0.827 | 317 (83.9) | 656 (78.1) | 0.020 |
| At least 1 ER visit, n (%) | 195 (51.6) | 399 (47.5) | 0.187 | 193 (51.1) | 365 (43.5) | 0.014 |
| At least 1 inpatient stay, n (%) | 98 (25.9) | 172 (20.5) | 0.034 | 87 (23.0) | 124 (14.8) | < 0.001 |
| Number of all-cause health care utilizations | ||||||
| Office visits | 25.48 (17.91) | 23.51 (17.38) | 0.069 | 25.84 (19.75) | 22.39 (16.50) | 0.003 |
| Outpatient visits | 10.42 (15.13) | 8.08 (10.01) | 0.006 | 10.59 (15.25) | 7.68 (10.80) | < 0.001 |
| ER visits | 2.86 (6.77) | 2.17 (5.62) | 0.085 | 2.27 (6.32) | 2.16 (5.96) | 0.775 |
| Inpatient stays | 0.41 (0.84) | 0.33 (0.86) | 0.160 | 0.37 (0.82) | 0.26 (0.92) | 0.054 |
Note: All values in this table given as mean (SD) unless otherwise indicated.
aTraditional chi-square test for categorical variables; two-sample t-test for continuous variables with Satterthwaite adjustment for unequal variances where appropriate.
bRequired ≥ 2 nondiagnostic outpatient claims or at least 1 inpatient claim for indicated condition.
ER = emergency room; SD = standard deviation; SNRI = serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor; SSRI = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; TCA = tricyclic antidepressant.