| Title |
Benzodiazepine prescribing patterns and deaths from drug overdose among US veterans receiving opioid analgesics: case-cohort study
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
British Medical Journal, June 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1136/bmj.h2698 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Tae Woo Park, Richard Saitz, Dara Ganoczy, Mark A Ilgen, Amy S B Bohnert |
| Abstract |
To study the association between benzodiazepine prescribing patterns including dose, type, and dosing schedule and the risk of death from drug overdose among US veterans receiving opioid analgesics. Case-cohort study. Veterans Health Administration (VHA), 2004-09. US veterans, primarily male, who received opioid analgesics in 2004-09. All veterans who died from a drug overdose (n=2400) while receiving opioid analgesics and a random sample of veterans (n=420 386) who received VHA medical services and opioid analgesics. Death from drug overdose, defined as any intentional, unintentional, or indeterminate death from poisoning caused by any drug, determined by information on cause of death from the National Death Index. During the study period 27% (n=112 069) of veterans who received opioid analgesics also received benzodiazepines. About half of the deaths from drug overdose (n=1185) occurred when veterans were concurrently prescribed benzodiazepines and opioids. Risk of death from drug overdose increased with history of benzodiazepine prescription: adjusted hazard ratios were 2.33 (95% confidence interval 2.05 to 2.64) for former prescriptions versus no prescription and 3.86 (3.49 to 4.26) for current prescriptions versus no prescription. Risk of death from drug overdose increased as daily benzodiazepine dose increased. Compared with clonazepam, temazepam was associated with a decreased risk of death from drug overdose (0.63, 0.48 to 0.82). Benzodiazepine dosing schedule was not associated with risk of death from drug overdose. Among veterans receiving opioid analgesics, receipt of benzodiazepines was associated with an increased risk of death from drug overdose in a dose-response fashion. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 225 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 47 | 21% |
| Canada | 36 | 16% |
| Spain | 26 | 12% |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 3% |
| Japan | 3 | 1% |
| Mexico | 2 | <1% |
| Ireland | 2 | <1% |
| Argentina | 2 | <1% |
| New Zealand | 2 | <1% |
| Other | 9 | 4% |
| Unknown | 89 | 40% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 147 | 65% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 39 | 17% |
| Scientists | 31 | 14% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 8 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 318 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | <1% |
| Spain | 1 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 314 | 99% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 45 | 14% |
| Student > Master | 40 | 13% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 35 | 11% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 32 | 10% |
| Student > Bachelor | 29 | 9% |
| Other | 84 | 26% |
| Unknown | 53 | 17% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 115 | 36% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 27 | 8% |
| Social Sciences | 22 | 7% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 22 | 7% |
| Psychology | 19 | 6% |
| Other | 37 | 12% |
| Unknown | 76 | 24% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 301. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 July 2023.
All research outputs
#117,312
of 25,789,020 outputs
Outputs from British Medical Journal
#1,807
of 65,068 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,135
of 280,647 outputs
Outputs of similar age from British Medical Journal
#23
of 963 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,789,020 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 65,068 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 45.2. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 963 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.