Gender differences in spontaneous adverse event reports associated with zolpidem in South Korea, 2015–2019

Study objectives: While zolpidem is considered as an example of a gender effect on drug response, there is insufficient evidence to reach a consensus. This study aimed to investigate gender differences in adverse events (AEs) of zolpidem. Methods: We estimated the difference between the reporting odds ratios (RORs) calculated in gender subgroups for the AEs signals detected in data mining using 2015–2019 Korea voluntary adverse drug events reporting system (KAERS) data. Different reporting risk by gender was evaluated by using the log RORs being significantly different by gender at the 5% significance level and the 95% confidence intervals of the gender ROR. Results: A total of 94 AE signals were detected. Among these, 35 signals showed significant disparities by gender at the 5% level or were detected only in one gender. When categorized by similarity of AEs, parasomnia including somnambulism and paroniria, and cardiovascular disorders including coronary thrombosis had higher reporting risks in women. Men were more likely to report cognitive disorders such as delirium, insomnia related disorders, and movement disorders. Among all AEs with gender differences in reporting risk, the difference in somnambulism was the most consistent and substantial. Conclusion: For several AEs associated with zolpidem, gender-based reporting disparities were evident. Notably, women exhibited a higher susbeptibility to somnambulism, potentially serious adverse effects of zolpidem. This underscores the need for further investigation into the underlying factors influencing these gender-specific reporting patterns.