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17h ago

Frequent Gabapentin Use Tied to Higher Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Risk

This finding underscores the need to track cognitive outcomes in chronic pain patients on long-term gabapentin therapy.

A stock image shows a man standing alone, suffering from low back pain.
Back pain? You might want to think twice about staying on gabapentin too long to treat it, according to the results of a new study
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Overview

  • Patients with six or more gabapentin prescriptions faced a 29% greater chance of dementia and an 85% greater chance of mild cognitive impairment within ten years of their initial pain diagnosis.
  • Risk was concentrated among 35 to 64 year olds, with dementia risk more than doubling and mild cognitive impairment risk more than tripling, while users aged 18 to 34 showed no increased risk.
  • Those receiving 12 or more prescriptions had a 40% higher likelihood of developing dementia and a 65% higher likelihood of mild cognitive impairment compared to patients with three to eleven prescriptions.
  • The observational analysis drew on anonymized electronic health records from 68 US healthcare organizations via the TriNetX network but could not account for dosage, treatment duration, or other unrecorded confounding factors.
  • Researchers and clinicians urged close monitoring of cognitive health in long-term gabapentin users and stressed that the study demonstrates an association rather than proving causation.