0753 Oxybate Treatment Patterns in Patients with Narcolepsy: Cohort Data from Mayo Clinic and Duke Health

Abstract Introduction Sodium oxybate is strongly recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for the treatment of narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). This study was conducted to characterize demographic characteristics and concomitant medication use of patients with narcolepsy treated or not treated with oxybates (OXB). Methods An electronic health record–based search identified first-time patients from Mayo Clinic and Duke Health between 2002-2024 and 2012-2024, respectively. Patients had ≥1 narcolepsy-specific ICD-9/10 code and ≥1 diagnostic mention of narcolepsy in clinical notes (via natural language processing algorithm). Patients from both Mayo Clinic and Duke Health who were or were not treated with OXB were identified. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results Of 4722 patients, 654 (Mayo Clinic, n=378; Duke Health, n=276) received OXB, and 4068 (Mayo Clinic, n=2800; Duke Health, n=1268) received non-OXB treatments. The majority of patients were white (OXB-treated: 92.1%, 73.6%; non–OXB-treated: 91.1%, 69.2%) and female (OXB-treated: 68.3%, 76.8%; non–OXB-treated: 61.7%, 68.1%). Most OXB-treated patients (65.3%; 63.4%) had narcolepsy type 1 (NT1); the majority of non–OXB-treated patients (78.1%; 64.0%) had narcolepsy type 2 (NT2). The mean (SD) age of the OXB-treated cohort was younger than the non–OXB-treated cohort at the time of diagnosis (OXB-treated: 33.9 [15.3] years, 35.7 [13.2] years; non–OXB-treated: 45.5 [19.2] years, 42.5 [17.8] years). For both cohorts, the most common concomitant medications were stimulants (OXB-treated: 50.3%, 42.8%; non–OXB-treated: 41.8%, 35.2%). Conclusion In this retrospective analysis of nearly 5000 patients from Mayo Clinic and Duke Health, approximately 1 in 8 received OXB. While sodium oxybate has been approved for >2 decades and is strongly recommended for treatment of both EDS and cataplexy in narcolepsy, substantially greater OXB utilization was observed in patients with NT1. As both patients with NT1 and NT2 can experience other narcolepsy symptoms, further OXB-related education remains critical—particularly on the efficacy of sodium oxybate in the treatment of NT2. Support (if any) Avadel Pharmaceuticals

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SLEEP
Published
2026-05-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsag091.0752
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Sleep and Wakefulness Research
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article
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article

0753 Oxybate Treatment Patterns in Patients with Narcolepsy: Cohort Data from Mayo Clinic and Duke Health

Jennifer Gudeman, Melissa Lipford, Marjorie Soltis, Lois Krahn et al.
SLEEP
Sleep and Wakefulness Research
article

0753 Oxybate Treatment Patterns in Patients with Narcolepsy: Cohort Data from Mayo Clinic and Duke Health

Jennifer Gudeman, Melissa Lipford, Marjorie Soltis, Lois Krahn, Allison Smither
article en

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Sodium oxybate is strongly recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for the treatment of narcolepsy, a chronic sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). This study was conducted to characterize demographic characteristics and concomitant medication use of patients with narcolepsy treated or not treated with oxybates (OXB). Methods An electronic health record–based search identified first-time patients from Mayo Clinic and Duke Health between 2002-2024 and 2012-2024, respectively. Patients had ≥1 narcolepsy-specific ICD-9/10 code and ≥1 diagnostic mention of narcolepsy in clinical notes (via natural language processing algorithm). Patients from both Mayo Clinic and Duke Health who were or were not treated with OXB were identified. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results Of 4722 patients, 654 (Mayo Clinic, n=378; Duke Health, n=276) received OXB, and 4068 (Mayo Clinic, n=2800; Duke Health, n=1268) received non-OXB treatments. The majority of patients were white (OXB-treated: 92.1%, 73.6%; non–OXB-treated: 91.1%, 69.2%) and female (OXB-treated: 68.3%, 76.8%; non–OXB-treated: 61.7%, 68.1%). Most OXB-treated patients (65.3%; 63.4%) had narcolepsy type 1 (NT1); the majority of non–OXB-treated patients (78.1%; 64.0%) had narcolepsy type 2 (NT2). The mean (SD) age of the OXB-treated cohort was younger than the non–OXB-treated cohort at the time of diagnosis (OXB-treated: 33.9 [15.3] years, 35.7 [13.2] years; non–OXB-treated: 45.5 [19.2] years, 42.5 [17.8] years). For both cohorts, the most common concomitant medications were stimulants (OXB-treated: 50.3%, 42.8%; non–OXB-treated: 41.8%, 35.2%). Conclusion In this retrospective analysis of nearly 5000 patients from Mayo Clinic and Duke Health, approximately 1 in 8 received OXB. While sodium oxybate has been approved for >2 decades and is strongly recommended for treatment of both EDS and cataplexy in narcolepsy, substantially greater OXB utilization was observed in patients with NT1. As both patients with NT1 and NT2 can experience other narcolepsy symptoms, further OXB-related education remains critical—particularly on the efficacy of sodium oxybate in the treatment of NT2. Support (if any) Avadel Pharmaceuticals

SLEEPVol. 49(Supplement_1)
Duke University (US), WinnMed (US), Avanir Pharmaceuticals (United States) (US), Nference (United States) (US)
Quality Education
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Sleep and Wakefulness Research
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