Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine recently published a retrospective cohort study that examined whether gabapentin prescription is associated with dementia in adults with chronic low back pain.
Using a national database of patient records from 2004-2024, the study looked at adults with chronic low back pain, filtering out those with prior gabapentin use, dementia, epilepsy, stroke, or cancer. The study assessed 10-year outcomes on 26,416 adults who were prescribed gabapentin for low back pain to see what percentage developed dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Patients who received six or more gabapentin prescriptions had an 85% greater risk of MCI and a 29% greater risk of dementia. Risks of cognitive impairment increased further with prescription frequency. Patients with 12 or more prescriptions had a higher incidence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment than those prescribed gabapentin 3–11 times.
Across non-elderly adults, those prescribed gabapentin had over twice the risk of dementia and MCI compared to those not prescribed gabapentin. Adults aged 35-69 saw a doubled risk of dementia and MCI with six or more gabapentin prescriptions.
The study did not that there was little to no information provided on any other illnesses or medications were present within the study group. Furthermore, the study noted a need for more research to corroborate its findings, and to better understand this connection.
However, the study did recommend that physicians monitor cognitive outcomes in patients prescribed gabapentin.
Gabapentin is indicated for the treatment of seizures and shingles-related pain, and it is often used off-label for the treatment of pain, which has resulted in its utilization in workers’ comp.
