Drug induced stuttering: pharmacovigilance data

ABSTRACT

Background: Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by poor fluency of speech despite the speech production organs being normal. Numerous factors contribute to stuttering, and it may also be an iatrogenic effect of certain drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between stuttering and drug exposure.

Research design and methods: We investigated the association between drugs and stuttering. We analyzed reports in the World Health Organization global individual case safety reports database (Vigibase) up to 31 May 2020 with the MedDRA lower level terms ‘stutter’ and ‘stuttering.’ The association between a drug and the occurrence of the adverse drug reaction was estimated by disproportionality analysis. Reporting odds ratios (ROR) were calculated with 95% confidence intervals.

Results: In total, 724 notifications were identified using the MedDRA terms selected. The main drugs implicated were methylphenidate (ROR = 19.58; 95% CI: 13.3–28.8), topiramate (ROR = 12.5; 95% CI: 7.1–22.1), olanzapine (ROR = 12; 95% CI: 8–17.9) and golimumab (ROR = 10.2; 95% CI: 5.5–19.1).

Conclusions: When stuttering occurs in a patient treated by drugs affecting neurotransmission, a drug-induced origin of the stutter should be considered.

KEYWORDS:

• Adverse event
• data
• drug
• pharmacovigilance
• stuttering
• Vigibase

Acknowledgments

Fiona Ecarnot (EA3920, University Hospital Besancon, France) for editorial assistance. The authors acknowledge the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) which provided and gave permission to use the data analyzed in the present study. Vigibase® is freely available in our department which is part of the WHO pharmacovigilance network. The authors are indebted to the National Pharmacovigilance Centers that contributed data. Results and conclusions are those of the authors and not those of the National Centres, Uppsala Monitoring Centre, or World Health Organization.

Author contributions

T. Trenque was involved in the conception of the study. T. Trenque collected the data from Vigibalse. A. Morel and A. Trenque contributed to the data interpretation. T. Trenque was the writer of the final version.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.