• Christa Meisinger, Bongaerts Brenda W C BWC Institute of Biometrics and Epidemiology, German Diabetes Center, Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, , Margit Heier, Ute Amann, Bernd Kowall, Christian Herder, Ina-Maria Rückert-Eheberg, Wolfgang Rathmann, and Dan Ziegler.
• Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München-German Research Center for Environmental Health, München-Neuherberg, Germany.
• Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2018 Jul 1; 27 (7): 806-814.

PurposeWe evaluated the pharmacological treatment of distal sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) among older subjects from the general population.MethodsThe study included subjects aged 61 to 82 years from the KORA F4 survey (2006-2008). DSPN was defined as the presence of bilaterally impaired foot-vibration perception and/or bilaterally impaired foot-pressure sensation. Pain intensity was assessed with the painDETECT questionnaire.ResultsFrom the included 1076 older persons, 172 (16%) persons reported pain in the lower extremities and DSPN was present in 150 (14%) subjects. Forty-eight people with pain in the lower extremities reported DSPN. Only 38% of the subjects with DSPN reporting an average pain level of ≥4 during the past 4 weeks received medical treatment, predominantly nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs 20% and opioids 12%). The medication of choice for neuropathic pain, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and opioids was relatively being underused. However, opioids and neuropathy preparations were prescribed preferably for subjects with painful DSPN.ConclusionsIn the older general population, only a small proportion of subjects with painful DSPN receive analgesic pharmacotherapy. Although not recommended by guidelines for the treatment of neuropathic pain, NSAIDs were the most frequently used class of analgesic drugs.Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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