Table 1.
Demographics and clinical characteristics for new users of benzodiazepines (n=74 004)
| BZD<8 months | BZD≥8 months | P value | |
| n=67 357 (91.0) | n=6687 (9.0) | ||
| Age (mean, SD) | 42.3 (11.8) | 41.9 (11.2) | 0.02 |
| Sex, male | 33 851 (50.3) | 4111 (61.5) | <0.001 |
| Occupational status, employed | 43 315 (64.3) | 4827 (72.2) | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 7073 (10.5) | 690 (10.3) | 0.66 |
| Medical spatiality, psychiatry | 17 986 (26.7) | 3845 (57.5) | <0.001 |
| Psychiatric diagnosis | <0.001 | ||
| None | 28 705 (42.6) | 1286 (19.2) | |
| Mood disorder (F3) | 9487 (14.1) | 2301 (34.4) | |
| Neurotic, stress-related and somatic disorder (F4) | 21 370 (31.7) | 1415 (21.2) | |
| Mood and neurotic disorders (F3 and F4) | 6537 (9.7) | 1489 (22.3) | |
| Other disorders | 1258 (1.9) | 196 (2.9) | |
| Multiple BZDs on first prescription | 6460 (9.6) | 1719 (25.7) | <0.001 |
| Type of BZD* | <0.001 | ||
| Hypnotic | 20 025 (29.7) | 2469 (36.9) | |
| Anxiolytic | 44 027 (65.4) | 3184 (47.6) | |
| Both | 3305 (4.9) | 1034 (15.5) | |
| Administration instructions* | <0.001 | ||
| As needed | 17 968 (26.7) | 969 (14.5) | |
| Regular prescription: 1 week (1–7 days) | 20 535 (30.5) | 2323 (34.7) | |
| Regular prescription: 2 weeks (8–14 days) | 19 901 (29.5) | 2423 (36.2) | |
| Regular prescription: more than 2 weeks (≥15 days) | 8953 (13.3) | 972 (14.5) | |
| Half-life of BZD* | <0.001 | ||
| Short (<12 hours) | 44 968 (66.8) | 3924 (58.7) | |
| Medium (12–24 hours) | 10 567 (15.7) | 1531 (22.9) | |
| Long (≥24 hours) | 11 822 (17.6) | 1232 (18.4) |
Data presented as n (%) unless otherwise specified.
* Characteristics of BZD with the longest prescription days in the first prescription.
BZD, benzodiazepines and Z-drugs.