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. 2015 Jun 1;8:257–268. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S78303

Table 3.

Patient and study characteristics for the placebo population in high placebo-response and low placebo-response studies

Patient characteristics DPN PHN

High placebo responsea
(n=353)
Low placebo responseb
n=685)
Low placebo responsec
(n=476)
Age, mean (SD), y 58.4 (10.1) 59.3 (10.9) 69.9 (10.4)
Female, n (%) 190 (53.8) 276 (40.3) 231 (48.5)
Male, n (%) 163 (46.2) 409 (59.7) 245 (51.5)
Baseline pain score, mean (SD) 6.3 (1.5) 6.4 (1.5) 6.6 (1.5)
Duration of NeP, mean (SD), y 3.8 (3.5) 4.2 (3.2)
Duration of DPN, mean (SD), y 4.3 (4.0) 4.9 (3.7)
Duration of PHN, mean (SD), mo 33.8 (36.9)
Study characteristics
Study duration, mean (SD), wk 11.5 (3.7) 9.1 (3.8) 7.0 (3.3)
Total site recruitment
 Patients per site, mean (SD) 5.8 (4.2) 3.8 (2.2) 3.7 (2.2)
  ≤5, n (%) 217 (61.5) 518 (75.6) 367 (77.1)
  6–8, n (%) 74 (21.0) 157 (22.9) 91 (19.1)
  9–11, n (%) 30 (8.5) 10 (1.5) 18 (3.8)
  ≥12, n (%) 32 (9.1) 0 0
Discontinuations, n (%) 63 (100) 115 (100) 100 (100)
 Adverse event 18 (28.6) 34 (29.6) 28 (28.0)
 Lack of compliance 0 7 (6.1) 2 (2.0)
 Lack of efficacy 14 (22.2) 51 (44.3) 45 (45.0)
 Other 31 (49.2) 23 (20.0) 25 (25.0)
Pregabalin approval status,d n (%)
 Preapproval 0 467 (68.2) 361 (75.8)
 Postapproval 353 (100) 218 (31.8) 115 (24.2)
Ratio of active to control,e n (%)
 1:1 0 287 (41.9) 84 (17.6)
 ≥2:1 353 (100) 398 (58.1) 392 (82.4)

Notes: There were no high placebo-response studies in patients with PHN; Not all studies recorded duration of illness;

a

pooled placebo patients from studies A0081030, A0081071, and A0081081 (DPN);

b

pooled placebo patients from studies 1008-014,1008-029, 1008-040, 1008-131, 1008-149, 1008-155 (DPN), A0081060, and A0081163;

c

pooled placebo patients from studies 1008-030, 1008-045, 1008-127, 1008-155 (PHN), 1008-196, A0081004, and A0081081 (PHN);

d

pregabalin approval status at the commencement of the study;

e

ratio of the total number of patients receiving active treatment to patients receiving placebo.

Abbreviations: DPN, diabetic peripheral neuropathy; mo, months; NeP, diabetic neuropathic pain; PHN, postherpetic neuralgia; SD, standard deviation; wk, week; y, years.