Community pharmacists’ experience of gabapentin misuse and abuse: A quantitative study from Jordan

Abstract

Gabapentin is an anticonvulsant that has an abuse potential. The aim of this study was to investigate the misuse and abuse of gabapentin in Jordan from the perspective of community pharmacists. A cross-sectional survey using a self-reported structured questionnaire was used with a convenience sample of pharmacists employed by various independent and chain community pharmacies. An online technique was used in this study using Google forms. A total of 215 questionnaires were completed, with 200 respondents (93%) reporting awareness of cases of gabapentin abuse in their pharmacies. Less than half of the respondents (n = 94; 43.7%) indicated that gabapentin requests were not accompanied by prescriptions. Almost two-thirds of respondents (63.6%) noticed an increased pattern of gabapentin abuse/misuse during the last 6 months. The study underscores the need for regulatory efforts and pharmacovigilance to manage potential gabapentin abuse, along with pharmacist and patient education at the community pharmacy, regarding potential abuse of gabapentin.

Keywords:

• Abuse
• community pharmacy
• gabapentin
• Jordan
• misuse
• survey

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Literature review, material preparation, and data collection were performed by Russul Ali as part of her Msc thesis. Data analysis was conducted by Russul Ali with two of supervisors, Marie Claire Van Hout and Mayyada Wazaify. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Russul Ali, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

Authors RA, MCVH, MM and MW declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan under grant number 8180971.