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Patterns of Pregabalin Users from Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities: Results from the French OPPIDUM Program from 2008 to 2022

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Abstract

Introduction

In recent years, pregabalin has received growing attention due to its abuse liability. The aim of this study was to further characterize patterns of pregabalin users from substance abuse treatment facilities and detect changes in users profile over the study period.

Methods

The data source was the Observation des Produits Psychotropes Illicites ou Détournés de leur Utilisation Médicamenteuse (OPPIDUM) program, an annual, repeated, cross-sectional, nationwide, multicenter survey that collects consumption data from patients with substance use disorders. First, we described the characteristics of pregabalin users and their consumption patterns. We compared these data between 2008 and 2018 (P1) and 2019 and 2022 (P2). Second, we conducted a multiple correspondence analysis to identify profiles of users.

Results

From 2008 to 2022, 291 pregabalin users (0.37% of all users) from 116 substance abuse treatment facilities were identified. The number of pregabalin users was lower than 15 per year in P1 (n = 89) and between 40 and 60 per year in P2 (n = 202). The number of users who reported pregabalin as the first substance leading to dependence increased significantly in P2 compared with P1 (p < 0.005). When comparing P2 with P1, there was a significant increase in precarity (p < 0.001), users in prison (p = 0.002), withdrawal symptoms (p < 0.001), dependence (p < 0.001), use of higher dose of pregabalin (p = 0.029), and acquisition by deal/street market (p < 0.001). The multiple correspondence analysis allowed for the identification of distinct profiles of pregabalin users: (i) a cluster with mainly users from P1, who presented a simple use of pregabalin, and were older (> 45 years), were involved in opioid agonist treatment (OAT), and obtained pregabalin legally; and (ii) a cluster with mainly users from P2, who presented pregabalin dependence, and were younger (< 26 years), reported pregabalin as the first substance leading to dependence, used doses higher than the market authorization, were in severe precarity, and were in prison.

Conclusions

These data showed that the profile of pregabalin users has changed in the last years. Pregabalin use disorders also affect users without history of addiction.

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Acknowledgements

French Addictovigilance Network: Bruno Revol, Amélie Daveluy, Célian Bertin, Hélène Peyriere, Valérie Gibaja, Leila Chaouachi, Stéphanie Pain, Alexandra Boucher, Marylène Guerlais, Reynald Leboisselier, Anne Sylvie Caous.

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Author notes

  1. Clément Garnier and Martin Schein contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Pharmacologie Clinique et Pharmacosurveillance, Centre d’évaluation et d’information sur la pharmacodépendance – Addictovigilance Aix Marseille Univ, APHM, INSERM, Inst Neurosci Syst, UMR 1106, University Hospital, 270 boulevard Sainte Marguerite, 13009, Marseille, France

    Clément Garnier, Martin Schein, Clémence Lacroix, Elisabeth Jouve, Thomas Soeiro & Joëlle Micallef

  2. Département Universitaire de Médecine Générale, Faculté des Sciences Médicales et paramédicales, Marseille, France

    Clément Garnier, Martin Schein & Gaétan Gentile

  3. Service de Pharmacologie Médicale et Clinique, UFR Santé Université de Toulouse - Paul Sabatier, CEIP-Addictovigilance de Toulouse, CHU de Toulouse, CIC 1436, 31000, Toulouse, France

    Maryse Lapeyre Mestre

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  1. Clément Garnier
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Correspondence to Joëlle Micallef.

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Funding

No funding was received for the preparation of this article.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

Ethics approval

The OPPIDUM program collects only anonymous data. No ethics approval is requested to process anonymous data according to the French law.

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Not applicable.

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Not applicable.

Availability of data and material

The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

Code availability

Upon request.

Authors’ contributions

J.M. and G.G. were responsible for study conception. C.L. coordinates the OPPIDUM program. E.J. and C.L. extracted the data. C.G. and M.S. contributed to the data quality assessment and the literature review. E.J. and T.S. performed the statistical analysis. C.G., M.S., E.J., M.L.M., and J.M. interpreted the data. C.L., G.G., and J.M. supervised the work. C.G., M.S., C.L., T.S., and J.M. drafted the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript, and agree to be accountable for the work.

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Garnier, C., Schein, M., Lacroix, C. et al. Patterns of Pregabalin Users from Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities: Results from the French OPPIDUM Program from 2008 to 2022. CNS Drugs (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40263-024-01095-y

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