Table 1.
Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Chronic Benzodiazepine Users at Baseline
| Chronic BZD use N (%) |
Continued use N (%) |
Discontinued N (%) |
Standardized difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overalla | 141,008 (100.0) | 122,101 (86.6) | 18,907 (13.4) | |
| Patient demographic characteristics | ||||
| Age (years) | ||||
| 18–44 | 17,002 (12.1) | 14,291 (11.7) | 2711 (14.3) | 0.14 |
| 45–64 | 52,805 (37.4) | 46,778 (38.3) | 6027 (31.9) | |
| 65+ | 71,201 (50.5) | 61,032 (50) | 10,169 (53.8) | |
| Gender | ||||
| Female | 93,508 (66.3) | 81,521 (66.8) | 11,987 (63.4) | − 0.07 |
| Male | 47,500 (33.7) | 40,580 (33.2) | 6920 (36.6) | |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||
| Asian | 1686 (1.2) | 1423 (1.2) | 263 (1.4) | 0.04 |
| Black | 10,132 (7.2) | 8708 (7.1) | 1424 (7.5) | |
| Hispanic | 16,522 (11.7) | 14,209 (11.6) | 2313 (12.2) | |
| White | 102,026 (72.4) | 88,576 (72.5) | 13,450 (71.1) | |
| Census division | ||||
| East North Central | 16,589 (11.8) | 14,677 (12) | 1912 (10.1) | 0.22 |
| East South Central | 6578 (4.7) | 5773 (4.7) | 805 (4.3) | |
| Middle Atlantic | 4985 (3.5) | 4425 (3.6) | 560 (3) | |
| Mountain | 16,011 (11.4) | 13,353 (10.9) | 2658 (14.1) | |
| New England | 4047 (2.9) | 3571 (2.9) | 476 (2.5) | |
| Pacific | 18,349 (13) | 15,067 (12.3) | 3282 (17.4) | |
| South Atlantic | 44,758 (31.7) | 39,700 (32.5) | 5058 (26.8) | |
| West North Central | 9140 (6.5) | 8136 (6.7) | 1004 (5.3) | |
| West South Central | 20,551 (14.6) | 17,399 (14.2) | 3152 (16.7) | |
| Patient clinical characteristics | ||||
| Depression | 47,211 (33.5) | 40,893 (33.5) | 6318 (33.4) | 0 |
| Bipolar disorder | 10,239 (7.3) | 8974 (7.3) | 1265 (6.7) | − 0.03 |
| Anxiety and adjustment disorders | 63,154 (44.8) | 55,293 (45.3) | 7861 (41.6) | − 0.07 |
| Suicidality | 1695 (1.2) | 1346 (1.1) | 349 (1.8) | 0.06 |
| Dementia | 6429 (4.6) | 4989 (4.1) | 1440 (7.6) | 0.15 |
| Insomnia | 24,693 (17.5) | 20,670 (16.9) | 4023 (21.3) | 0.11 |
| Substance use disorderb | 8134 (5.8) | 6846 (5.6) | 1288 (6.8) | 0.05 |
| Alcohol use disorder | 3620 (2.6) | 3016 (2.5) | 604 (3.2) | 0.04 |
| Medication use during baseline | ||||
| Opioid usec | 80,140 (56.8) | 69,681 (57.1) | 10,459 (55.3) | − 0.04 |
| Non-BZD anxiolytic use | 29,540 (20.9) | 25,367 (20.8) | 4173 (22.1) | 0.03 |
| Characteristics of baseline BZDd | ||||
| High potency | 120,544 (85.5) | 105,449 (86.4) | 15,095 (79.8) | − 0.17 |
| Baseline daily BZD dose in lorazepam-equivalent mg/day, mean (SD) | 2.2 (2.4) | 2.3 (2.5) | 1.4 (1.6) | − 0.43 |
| BZD days prescribed during baseline year, mean (SD) | 299 (125.1) | 307.2 (126.4) | 245.9 (101.1) | − 0.54 |
| Number of unique BZD prescribers | ||||
| 1 | 97,270 (69) | 84,521 (69.2) | 12,749 (67.4) | 0.04 |
| > 1 | 43,738 (31) | 37,580 (30.8) | 6158 (32.6) | |
| Provider characteristics | ||||
| Specialty/discipline | ||||
| Primary care | 99,352 (70.5) | 85,777 (70.3) | 13,575 (71.8) | 0.08 |
| Psychiatry | 29,226 (20.7) | 25,780 (21.1) | 3446 (18.2) | |
| Surgeon | 877 (0.6) | 744 (0.6) | 133 (0.7) | |
| Other provider | 11,553 (8.2) | 9800 (8) | 1753 (9.3) | |
BZD benzodiazepine
aOverall BZD use is reported as row percentage; unless otherwise indicated, all other results reflect column percentage
bIncludes substance use disorders other than alcohol and tobacco use disorders
cMedication variables reflect use during baseline year
dChronic benzodiazepine users (n = 141,008) at baseline were prescribed 42,155,326 days. The most commonly prescribed medications included alprazolam (39.0%), clonazepam (21.9%), lorazepam (18.8%), temazepam (10.4%), and diazepam (7.6%)