Shorter Initial Benzo Courses Linked to Discontinuation
Longer initial prescriptions, use of multiple benzodiazepines, and long-acting agents were associated with delayed discontinuation in a retrospective population-based cohort study.
To analyze the relationship between the duration of initial benzodiazepine prescriptions and the likelihood of treatment discontinuation.
Approach:
Key Findings:
Longer initial benzodiazepine prescriptions were associated with a lower likelihood of discontinuation.
Compared to prescriptions of 7 days or fewer, those of 8 to 14 days had about half the likelihood of discontinuation.
Prescriptions of 15 to 30 days were associated with about one-quarter the likelihood of discontinuation, and those lasting more than 30 days with about one-seventh the likelihood.
The median time to discontinuation was 19 days overall, with 16 days for females and 19 days for males.
Patients dispensed 2 or more benzodiazepines were less likely to discontinue than those dispensed 1.
Interpretation:
Limitations:
Dispensing records could not confirm whether patients took medications as prescribed.
Some medications, including z-drugs and certain psychiatric medications, were not fully captured.
The analysis could not account for disease severity, nonprescribed benzodiazepine use, social stability, or other unmeasured factors.
The study was observational, so findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causation.
Acidic gum beat sugar-free at cranking out nitric oxide from beetroot juice — exactly backward from what test-tube studies predicted. Also this week: a sleep gene that ignores amyloid, and jackfruit sap moonlighting as a bone-building drug delivery system.
