Table 3.
Comparison of FAERS case reports with opioid, benzodiazepine (BZD), both, and neither as suspect medications between 2009 and 2018 for identified preferred terms⁎.
| BZD = benzodiazepine; Other/MR = Other race/multi-racial; HS = high school; GED = General Educational Development test; LWP = living with partner | Overall | Opioid | BZD | Opioid w/ BZD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of reportsa | 1,014,574 | 81,972 (8.1%) | 36,645 (3.6%) | 14,686 (1.5%) |
| Average age (years) | 56.7 (+/− 0.03) | 47.4 (±0.1) | 45.0 (±0.1) | 42.7 (+/− 0.1) |
| % missing | 40% | 46.6% | 15.2% | 9.8% |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 500,029 (49.3%) | 27,492 (33.5%) | 18,509 (50.5%) | 6722 (45.8%) |
| Male | 383,062 (37.8%) | 25,752 (31.4%) | 15,170 (41.4%) | 7079 (48.2%) |
| Missing | 131,483 (13.0%) | 28,728 (35.1%) | 2966 (8.1%) | 885 (6.0%) |
| Case seriousness | ||||
| Serious | 720,031 (71.0%) | 74,626 (91.0%) | 35,208 (96.1%) | 14,461 (99.1%) |
| Non-serious | 294.543 (29.0%) | 7346 (9.0%) | 1437 (3.9%) | 125 (0.9%) |
| Case reporter | ||||
| HCP | 530,694 (52.3%) | 44,198 (53.9%) | 31,024 (84.7%) | 13,059 (88.9%) |
| Consumer | 462,960 (45.6%) | 36,370 (44.4%) | 4625 (12.6%) | 1203 (8.2%) |
| Unknown | 20,919 (2.1%) | 1404 (1.7%) | 996 (2.7%) | 424 (2.9%) |
| Five most frequently reported preferred terms | ||||
| Death | Toxicity to various agents | Toxicity to various agents | Toxicity to various agents | |
| Off label use | Death | Completed suicide | Drug abuse | |
| Somnolence | Overdose | Drug abuse | Death | |
| Toxicity to various agents | Drug abuse | Death | Completed suicide | |
| Inappropriate schedule of product administration | Somnolence | Overdose | Respiratory arrest | |
| Case count per year | ||||
| 2009 | 31,818 (3.1%) | 3597 (4.4%) | 1494 (4.1%) | 587 (4.4%) |
| 2010 | 46,439 (4.6%) | 3826 (4.7%) | 2271 (6.2%) | 1050 (7.2%) |
| 2011 | 52,425 (5.2%) | 4328 (5.3%) | 2505 (6.8%) | 1087 (7.4%) |
| 2012 | 78,816 (7.8%) | 5072 (6.2%) | 2938 (8.0%) | 1214 (8.3%) |
| 2013 | 79,158 (7.8%) | 7134 (8.7%) | 4348 (11.9%) | 2057 (14.0%) |
| 2014 | 93,391 (9.2%) | 7093 (8.7%) | 4812 (13.1%) | 2264 (15.4%) |
| 2015 | 132,599 (13.1%) | 7206 (8.8%) | 4200 (11.5%) | 1757 (12.0%) |
| 2016 | 138,215 (13.6%) | 5565 (6.8%) | 3432 (9.4%) | 1129 (7.7%) |
| 2017 | 172,524 (17.0%) | 9.016 (11%) | 5149 (14.1%) | 1670 (11.4%) |
| 2018 | 189,189 (18.7%) | 29,135 (35.5%) | 5496 (15.0%) | 1871 (12.7%) |
HCP=Health care provider.
⁎
Preferred terms include: accidental poisoning, accidental overdose, confusional state, death, inappropriate schedule of product administration, intentional product misuse, intentional overdose, off label use, overdose, poisoning, poisoning deliberate, respiratory arrest, respiratory depression, somnolence, and toxicity to various agents; a: divided each number by 1,014,574 to obtain percentages of total case.