Table 1.
Description of main patient characteristics and comparisons between of regular BZD/Z-drug users and non-users
| Total sample N = 4023 (%) |
All regular BZD/Z-drug users N = 1113 (%) |
BZD/Z-drug non-users N = 2910 (%) |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years mean ± SD | 83.5 ± 9.4 | 83.2 ± 9.4 | 83.7 ± 9.3 | 0.10 |
| Age categories N (%) | ||||
| ≤ 65 years | 177 (4.0) | 51 (5.0) | 126 (4.7) | 0.267 |
| 66–74 years | 354 (9.6) | 108 (10.7) | 246 (9.1) | |
| 75–84 years | 1172 (31.7) | 330 (32.7) | 842 (31.3) | |
| ≥ 85 years | 1197 (54.0) | 521 (51.6) | 1476 (54.9) | |
| Gender (female) | 2945 (73.2) | 822 (73.9) | 2123 (73.0) | 0.53 |
| Number of medications mean ± SD | 7 ± 3.6 | 8.3 ± 3.3 | 6.5 ± 3.6 | < 0.001 |
| Number of medications categories | ||||
| ≤ 4 medications | 1044 (26.0) | 144 (12.9) | 900 (30.9) | < 0.001 |
| 5–9 medications | 2000 (49.7) | 581 (52.2) | 1419 (48.8) | |
| ≥ 10 medications | 979 (24.3) | 388 (34.9) | 591 (20.3) | |
| CPS a | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 2.9 ± 1.9 | 2.7 ± 1.9 | 3.0 ± 1.9 | 0.002 |
| Median (IQR) | 3.0 (1.0–5.0) | 3.0 (1.0–5.0) | 3.0 (1.0–5.0) | |
| CPS categories N (%) | ||||
| 0–1 Cognition intact | 1116 (28.3) | 367 (33.5) | 796 (26.3) | < 0.001 |
| 2–6 Cognition impaired | 2831 (71.7) | 730 (66.5) | 2101 (73.7) | |
| ADL Hierarchy scale b | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 15.2 ± 9.5 | 14.2 ± 9.7 | 15.5 ± 9.5 | < 0.001 |
| Median (IQR) | 16.0 (7.0–24.0) | 15.0 (5.0–23.0) | 17.0 (7.0–24.0) | |
| ADL Hierarchy scale Categories N (%) | ||||
| 0–1 Independent | 744 (18.5) | 254 (22.8) | 490 (16.9) | < 0.001 |
| 2–4 Assistance required | 1661 (41.4) | 445 (40.0) | 1216 (41.9) | |
| 5–6 Dependent | 1607 (40.0) | 413 (37.1) | 1194 (41.2) | |
| PAIN scale c | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 0.6 ± 0.8 | 0.7 ± 0.9 | 0.5 ± 0.8 | < 0.001 |
| Median (IQR) | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | 0.0 (0.0–1.0) | |
| PAIN scale categories N (%) | ||||
| 0 No pain | 2280 (61.2) | 550 (55.2) | 1730 (63.4) | < 0.001 |
| 1 Mild pain | 922 (24.8) | 281 (28.2) | 641 (23.5) | |
| 2 Moderate pain | 395 (9.8) | 110 (11.0) | 285 (10.5) | |
| 3 Severe pain | 109 (2.7) | 49 (4.9) | 60 (2.2) | |
| 4 Excruciating pain | 17 (0.4) | 6 (0.6) | 11 (0.4) | |
| CAP Delirium d | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 0.3 ± 0.8 | 0.3 ± 0.9 | 0.3 ± 0.8 | 0.18 |
| Median (IQR) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | |
| Depression scale e | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 2.1 ± 2.7 | 2.6 ± 2.9 | 1.9 ± 2.6 | < 0.001 |
| Median (IQR) | 1.0 (0.0–3.0) | 2.0 (0.0–4.0) | 1.0 (0.0–3.0) | |
| Depression scale Categories N (%) | ||||
| 0 No clinical problems | 1645 (41.5) | 379 (34.5) | 1266 (44.3) | < 0.001 |
| 1–2 Changes in mood, but not clinically relevant depression | 1048 (26.5) | 284 (25.8) | 764 (26.7) | |
| ≥ 3 Clinically relevant depression | 1268 (32.0) | 437 (39.7) | 831 (29.0) | |
| Communication scale f | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 3.0 ± 2.9 | 2.6 ± 2.8 | 3.1 ± 2.9 | 0.05 |
| Median (IQR) | 2.0 (0.0–6.0) | 2.0 (0.0–5.0) | 2.0 (0.0–6.0) | |
| Communication scale Categories N (%) | ||||
| 0 Intact | 1736 (42.3) | 525 (47.6) | 1146 (40.0) | < 0.001 |
| 1–4 Mild to moderate | 1092 (26.6) | 279 (25.3) | 776 (27.1) | |
| 5–8 Moderate-severe to very severe | 1273 (30.6) | 299 (27.1) | 943 (32.9) | |
Results in bold indicate statistically significant results
a CPS – Cognitive Performance Scale [26] was used to access cognitive status. It includes five items: cognitive skills for daily decision making, short-term memory problems, procedural memory problems, making self-understood, and eating ability. Scores of CPS items range from 0 (intact) to 6 (very severe cognitive impairment), and any score ≥ 2 indicates clinically significant cognitive impairment (from mild to very severe stages)
b ADL Hierarchy scale – Activities of Daily Living Hierarchy scale [25] comprises 7 items: personal hygiene, dressing upper body, dressing lower body, locomotion, toilet use, bed mobility, eating. Each item is scored from 0 = requires supervision to 4 = total dependence. The scale ranges from 0 to 28, with higher scores reflecting greater level of dependency and difficulties in performing activities
c Pain scale [28] - summarizes the reported presence and intensity of pain. The scores range from 0 = no pain to 4 = daily excruciating pain
d CAP Delirium [30] – this scale comprises 4 items: easily distracted, disorganized speech, mental function varies over day, change in decision making. The scale ranges from 0 to 4, with higher values indication increase likelihood of delirium
e Depression scale [27] – is based on the self-reported mood items and indicates the presence of depressed mood and anxiety. It consists of 3 self-reported mood items, while each question can be scored from 0 to 2 with the maximum overall score of 6. The score of this scale range from 0 = no symptoms of depression to 6 = all symptoms present in last 3 days/24 h: high likelihood of depression
f Communication scale [29] – consists of two items: making self-understood (expression) and ability to understand others (comprehension), while not taking directly into consideration hearing and visual impairment. It is primarily focused on dysphasia and similar syndromes. The scores range from 0 = intact to 8 = very severe impairment