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Patient Satisfaction With Lidocaine 5% Patch  Depends on Type of Pain: Presented at AAPM

By Ed Susman

KISSIMMEE, FL -- February 18, 2008 -- Drawing data from 5 clinical studies evaluating the lidocaine 5% patch, doctors determined that patient satisfaction with pain differs according to the site where the injury or disease exists.

The researchers analysed data on 411 patients with low back pain or osteoarthritis of the knee who received treatment with the patch. The results were presented in a poster session on February 15 at the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) 24th Annual Meeting.

The researchers used hierarchical logistic regression models with relevant covariates entered first followed by hypothesised predictor variables to evaluate their contribution in predicting treatment responders, defined as those with responses of "satisfied" or "very satisfied on the Patient Global Assessment of Treatment Satisfaction (PGATS).

"Correlates of patient satisfaction were different for low back pain and osteoarthritis patients," said Bradley Galer, MD, Head, Galer Consulting, Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States.

"In patients with chronic low back pain, a reduction in intense pain quality was strongly associated with patient satisfaction with study medication, although increased pain relief, decreased hot pain, and increased function [were] also associated with patient satisfaction," Dr. Galer explained.

In fact, he found that even when patients failed to achieve a 2.5-point reduction in the Neuropathic Pain Scale score, about 72.2% expressed satisfaction with the patch because they did experience some pain relief and did improve their physical functioning. About 88% of patients who achieved the 2.5-point reduction in scores said they were satisfied with the product.

"For patients suffering pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee, a reduction in deep pain quality was strongly associated with satisfaction with study medication, but milder associations with patient satisfaction were seen when patients experienced a decrease in average pain intensity, hot pain, and intense pain," Dr. Galer said.

All patients who achieved a 3-point change in deep pain scores - 66 of the 207 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee -- expressed satisfaction with the study drug. But satisfaction decreased to 83% if there was less than a 3-point reduction in pain scores.

Overall, 61.3% of patients with chronic low back pain expressed satisfaction with the patch, as did 72.5% of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Dr. Galer determined that among responders in the patients with chronic low back pain, there were significant improvements from baseline to last observed measurement in average pain (P = .0016) and pain relief (P = .0295).

For osteoarthritis patients, reduced average pain (P = .0262), greater pain relief (P = .0229), and improved physical function (P = .0153) correlated with being a responder, as did improvements in deep (P = .0009), hot (P = .0054), and unpleasant (P = .0253) pain.

Dr. Galer conducted the study through a grant from Endo Pharmaceuticals, which was made to the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, United States.


Presentation title: Correlates of Patient Satisfaction in Patients With Low Back Pain. Abstract 148