Table 1.
Characteristics of exposures involving gabapentin or pregabalin as the primary substance reported to the national poison data system by age group, 2012–2022
| Characteristics | Age group | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 5 years n (%)a |
6–19 years n (%)a |
20–29 years n (%)a |
30–39 years n (%)a |
40–49 years n (%)a |
50–59 years n (%)a |
≥ 60 years n (%)a |
Unknown | Total n (%)a |
|
| Sex | |||||||||
| Male | 7,935 (51.1) | 3,747 (36.9) | 6,860 (44.0) | 8,332 (42.2) | 7,246 (38.1) | 7,004 (38.7) | 7,293 (35.3) | 1,849 | 50,266 (40.6) |
| Female | 7,599 (48.9) | 6,398 (63.1) | 8,722 (56.0) | 11,403 (57.8) | 11,762 (61.9) | 11,094 (61.3) | 13,375 (64.7) | 3,098 | 73,451 (59.4) |
| Unknown | 45 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 314 | 444 |
| Type of exposure | |||||||||
| Single-substance | 13,498 (86.6) | 6,851 (67.5) | 8,838 (56.7) | 10,733 (54.3) | 10,052 (52.8) | 10,085 (55.7) | 14,049 (67.9) | 4,122 | 78,228 (62.9) |
| Multiple-substance | 2,081 (13.4) | 3,305 (32.5) | 6,760 (43.4) | 9,018 (45.7) | 8,970 (47.2) | 8,021 (44.3) | 6,639 (32.1) | 1,139 | 45,933 (37.1) |
| Reason for exposure | |||||||||
| Unintentional | 15,524 (99.8) | 2,549 (25.2) | 1,879 (12.2) | 2,741 (14.1) | 3,499 (18.7) | 5,185 (29.2) | 13,044 (64.3) | 2,552 | 46,973 (38.5) |
| Unintentional–general | 14,946 (96.1) | 554 (5.5) | 328 (2.1) | 385 (2.0) | 427 (2.3) | 450 (2.5) | 865 (4.3) | 342 | 18,297 (15.0) |
| Unintentional–therapeutic error | 548 (3.5) | 1,917 (19.0) | 1,447 (9.4) | 2,193 (11.3) | 2,939 (15.7) | 4,580 (25.8) | 11,947 (58.9) | 2,139 | 27,710 (22.7) |
| Unintentional–otherb | 27 (0.2) | 64 (0.6) | 88 (0.6) | 115 (0.6) | 99 (0.5) | 116 (0.7) | 185 (0.9) | 55 | 749 (0.6) |
| Unintentional–unknown | 3 (0.0) | 14 (0.1) | 16 (0.1) | 48 (0.2) | 34 (0.2) | 39 (0.2) | 47 (0.2) | 16 | 217 (0.2) |
| Intentional | 2 (0.0) | 7,430 (73.9) | 13,143 (85.7) | 16,263 (83.9) | 14,730 (78.9) | 11,920 (67.1) | 6,020 (29.7) | 1,943 | 71,451 (58.5) |
| Intentional–suspected suicide | 2 (0.0) | 5,854 (58.2) | 9,867 (64.3) | 12,522 (64.6) | 11,942 (63.9) | 9,527 (53.7) | 4,240 (20.9) | 1,251 | 55,205 (45.2) |
| Intentional–misuse | 0 (0.0) | 418 (4.2) | 1,128 (7.4) | 1,412 (7.3) | 1,191 (6.4) | 1,140 (6.4) | 1,120 (5.5) | 227 | 6,636 (5.4) |
| Intentional–abuse | 0 (0.0) | 844 (8.4) | 1,495 (9.7) | 1,459 (7.5) | 855 (4.6) | 576 (3.2) | 276 (1.4) | 195 | 5,700 (4.7) |
| Intentional–unknown | 0 (0.0) | 314 (3.1) | 653 (4.3) | 870 (4.5) | 742 (4.0) | 677 (3.8) | 384 (1.9) | 270 | 3,910 (3.2) |
| Otherc | 22 (0.1) | 86 (0.9) | 320 (2.1) | 388 (2.0) | 445 (2.4) | 627 (3.5) | 1,220 (6.0) | 584 | 3,692 (3.0) |
| Unknown | 31 | 91 | 256 | 359 | 348 | 374 | 404 | 182 | 2,045 |
| Management site | |||||||||
| Managed on site (not in a healthcare facility) | 10,414 (67.4) | 2,107 (20.9) | 1,724 (11.1) | 2,361 (12.0) | 3,049 (16.1) | 4,542 (25.2) | 11,622 (56.7) | 2,787 | 38,606 (31.3) |
| Individual already in (en route to) a healthcare facility | 3,475 (22.5) | 6,979 (69.1) | 12,325 (79.4) | 15,771 (80.2) | 14,641 (77.3) | 12,360 (68.6) | 7,474 (36.5) | 688 | 73,713 (60.0) |
| Individual referred by poison center to a healthcare facility | 1,509 (9.8) | 915 (9.1) | 1,371 (8.8) | 1,407 (7.2) | 1,145 (6.0) | 1,002 (5.6) | 1,152 (5.6) | 1,477 | 9,978 (8.1) |
| Other | 56 (0.4) | 93 (0.9) | 108 (0.7) | 122 (0.6) | 109 (0.6) | 126 (0.7) | 251 (1.2) | 108 | 973 (0.8) |
| Unknown | 125 | 62 | 70 | 90 | 78 | 76 | 189 | 201 | 891 |
| Highest level of health care received | |||||||||
| No healthcare facility treatment receivedd | 10,470 (69.9) | 2,200 (23.0) | 1,832 (12.8) | 2,483 (13.5) | 3,158 (17.6) | 4,668 (27.1) | 11,873 (60.1) | 2,895 | 39,579 (34.0) |
| Treated/evaluated and released | 3,950 (26.4) | 3,155 (33.0) | 4,795 (33.5) | 5,450 (29.6) | 4,679 (26.0) | 3,866 (22.5) | 2,894 (14.7) | 257 | 29,046 (25.1) |
| Admitted | 352 (2.4) | 4,037 (39.3) | 7,349 (51.3) | 10,092 (55.0) | 9,830 (54.8) | 8,431 (49.0) | 4,655 (23.6) | 221 | 44,967 (39.0) |
| Admitted to a critical care unit | 144 (1.0) | 724 (7.6) | 1,949 (13.6) | 3,136 (17.1) | 3,178 (17.7) | 2,750 (16.0) | 1,546 (7.8) | 60 | 13,487 (11.7) |
| Admitted to a non-critical care unit | 204 (1.4) | 763 (8.0) | 1,466 (10.2) | 2,218 (12.1) | 2,132 (11.9) | 2,169 (12.6) | 1,709 (8.7) | 51 | 10,712 (9.3) |
| Admitted to a psychiatric facility | 4 (0.0) | 2,550 (26.7) | 3,934 (27.5) | 4,738 (25.8) | 4,520 (25.2) | 3,512 (20.4) | 1,400 (7.1) | 110 | 20,768 (18.0) |
| Refused referral/did not arrive at healthcare facility | 204 (1.4) | 162 (1.7) | 353 (2.5) | 363 (2.0) | 297 (1.7) | 252 (1.5) | 326 (1.7) | 420 | 2,377 (2.0) |
| Unknowne | 603 | 602 | 1,269 | 1,363 | 1,058 | 889 | 940 | 1,468 | 8,192 |
| Medical outcome | |||||||||
| No effect | 7,410 (49.6) | 2,675 (27.7) | 3,217 (22.2) | 3,731 (20.1) | 3,502 (19.4) | 3,139 (18.1) | 3,462 (17.4) | 421 | 27,557 (23.6) |
| Minor effect | 1,129 (7.6) | 3,389 (35.1) | 5,331 (36.8) | 6,473 (34.9) | 6,065 (33.6) | 5,215 (30.1) | 3,867 (19.4) | 468 | 31,937 (27.4) |
| Serious medical outcome | 179 (1.2) | 1,729 (17.9) | 4,010 (27.6) | 5,883 (31.7) | 5,583 (30.9) | 4,935 (28.4) | 3,147 (15.8) | 193 | 25,659 (22.1) |
| Moderate effect | 167 (1.1) | 1,536 (15.9) | 3,373 (23.3) | 4,891 (26.4) | 4,601 (25.5) | 4,065 (23.4) | 2,589 (13.0) | 167 | 21,389 (18.3) |
| Major effect | 12 (0.1) | 191 (2.0) | 630 (4.3) | 972 (5.2) | 964 (5.3) | 845 (4.9) | 537 (2.7) | 23 | 4,174 (3.6) |
| Death | 0 (0.0) | 2 (0.0) | 7 (0.0) | 20 (0.1) | 18 (0.1) | 25 (0.1) | 21 (0.1) | 3 | 96 (0.1) |
| Not followedf | 6,219 (42.1) | 1,851 (19.4) | 1,930 (13.8) | 2,469 (12.9) | 2,905 (16.1) | 4,050 (23.7) | 9,417 (47.2) | 2,579 | 31,420 (27.0) |
| Unknowng | 642 | 512 | 1,110 | 1,195 | 967 | 767 | 795 | 1,600 | 7,588 |
| Total (row %) | 15,579 (12.6) | 10,156 (8.2) | 15,598 (12.6) | 19,751 (16.0) | 19,022 (15.4) | 18,106 (14.7) | 20,688 (16.8) | 5,261 | 124,161 (100.0) |
aColumn percentages may not add to 100.0% due to rounding error
b Includes unintentional-environmental, unintentional-occupational, and unintentional-misuse
cIncludes other-contamination/tampering, other-malicious, other-withdrawal, adverse reaction-drug or other
d Includes cases for which management site was recorded “managed on site (not in a healthcare facility)” or “other”
e Includes patient lost to follow-up/ left against medical advice/unknown
f Includes “not followed (minimal clinical effects possible)” and “not followed (judged as a non-toxic exposure)”
g Includes “unable to follow (judged as a potentially toxic exposure)”