Table 4.

Effects of Chronic Medication Use on Incident HE

Medication Class	10,000* Person‐Years at Risk	No. of HE Events	Unadjusted HR (95% CI)	Adjusted† HR (95% CI)
Medications with plausible effects on HE pathophysiology
Benzodiazepines	6.5	9,374	1.23 (1.20, 1.26)	1.19 (1.16, 1.22)
GABAergics	6.0	8,579	1.24 (1.21, 1.27)	1.17 (1.14, 1.21)
Opioids	12.5	18,200	1.37 (1.34, 1.39)	1.24 (1.21, 1.27)
Proton pump inhibitors	12.6	19,677	1.58 (1.55, 1.61)	1.41 (1.38, 1.45)
Medications as markers of mental health treatment
Antipsychotics	1.8	2,420	1.14 (1.10, 1.19)	1.12 (1.06, 1.18)
Antidepressants	9.8	13,827	1.31 (1.29, 1.34)	1.24 (1.21, 1.27)
Tricyclic antidepressants	3.6	5,100	1.20 (1.16, 1.23)	1.10 (1.05, 1.14)
Medications as markers of liver disease severity
Diuretics	10.8	23,085	2.70 (2.65, 2.76)	2.08 (2.03, 2.13)
Nonselective beta blockers	5.6	11,398	2.01 (1.97, 2.06)	1.39 (1.35, 1.43)
Medications without direct effects on HE pathophysiology
Statins	9.3	10,774	1.02 (1.00, 1.04)	1.08 (1.05, 1.11)

^*Person‐years at risk integrates the duration of prescriptions (before any HE event) for all subjects.

^†In addition to adjustment for the other medications in this table, covariates used for adjustment included age, sex, race, etiology of cirrhosis, ESRD, disability, portal hypertension (varices, ascites diagnosis, paracentesis, portosystemic shunt placement), and management by a gastroenterologist.