Table 1.
Baseline Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of Veterans at the Start of Observation Period, FY2010
| Benzodiazepine Exposure* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics, N (%) | Overall (N = 528 066) | None (N = 377 784), N (%) | Low (N = 33 613), N (%) | Medium (N = 46 551), N (%) | High (N = 70 118), N (%) |
| Age, mean (SD) | 77.0 (7.4) | 77.4 (7.2) | 75.8 (7.3) | 76.2 (7.5) | 75.4 (7.6) |
| Male | 515 979 (97.7) | 370 295 (98.0) | 32 419 (96.4) | 45 125 (96.9) | 68 140 (97.2) |
| % with less than high school education, mean (SD) | 15.7 (9.0) | 15.6 (9.0) | 15.8 (9.1) | 15.9 (9.1) | 15.9 (8.9) |
| Median household income ($), mean (SD) | 49 620 (19 106.9) | 49 825 (19 248.7) | 49 787 (19 124.0) | 48 989 (18 815.6) | 48 860 (18 485.8) |
| Depression | 67 643 (12.8) | 30 316 (8.0) | 5 230 (15.6) | 9 955 (21.4) | 22 142 (31.6) |
| Anxiety | 33 556 (6.4) | 8 960 (2.4) | 2 008 (6.0) | 5 120 (11.0) | 17 468 (24.9) |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder | 33 567 (6.4) | 13 182 (3.5) | 2 252 (6.7) | 4 743 (10.2) | 13 390 (19.1) |
| Alcohol disorder | 15 560 (2.9) | 9 164 (2.4) | 1 551 (4.6) | 1 838 (3.9) | 3 007 (4.3) |
| Diabetes | 201 714 (38.2) | 145 371 (38.5) | 13 151 (39.1) | 18 053 (38.8) | 25 139 (35.9) |
| Hypertension | 388 628 (73.6) | 279 973 (74.1) | 25 023 (74.4) | 34 123 (73.3) | 49 509 (70.6) |
| Insomnia | 19 351 (3.7) | 7 299 (1.9) | 1 529 (4.5) | 3 442 (7.4) | 7 081 (10.1) |
| Stroke | 22 290 (4.2) | 14 921 (3.9) | 1 806 (5.4) | 2 298 (4.9) | 3 265 (4.7) |
| Traumatic brain injury | 2 531 (0.5) | 1 443 (0.4) | 223 (0.7) | 350 (0.8) | 515 (0.7) |
| Tobacco use disorder | 47 481 (9.0) | 30 472 (8.1) | 3 573 (10.6) | 4 877 (10.5) | 8 559 (12.2) |
| Myocardial infarction | 23 416 (4.4) | 15 279 (4.0) | 1 863 (5.5) | 2 624 (5.6) | 3 650 (5.2) |
| Coronary heart failure | 48 723 (9.2) | 32 416 (8.6) | 3 872 (11.5) | 5 342 (11.5) | 7 093 (10.1) |
| Angina | 12 628 (2.4) | 7 807 (2.1) | 1 138 (3.4) | 1 549 (3.3) | 2 134 (3.0) |
| Arrhythmia | 98 457 (18.6) | 69 106 (18.3) | 7 001 (20.8) | 9 580 (20.6) | 12 770 (18.2) |
| Hyperlipidemia | 358 767 (67.9) | 259 062 (68.6) | 22 372 (66.6) | 31 132 (66.9) | 46 201 (65.9) |
| Peripheral artery disease | 44 881 (8.5) | 30 919 (8.2) | 3 376 (10.0) | 4 394 (9.4) | 6 192 (8.8) |
| Cumulative anticholinergic medication use† | |||||
| None | 218 301 (41.3) | 184 238 (48.8) | 8 926 (26.6) | 11 238 (24.1) | 13 899 (19.8) |
| TSDD 1–30 | 42 132 (8.0) | 32 118 (8.5) | 3 297 (9.8) | 3 322 (7.1) | 3 395 (4.8) |
| TSDD 31–365 | 107 502 (20.4) | 74 047 (19.6) | 9 218 (27.4) | 11 645 (25.0) | 12 592 (18.0) |
| TSDD 366–1 095 | 53 454 (10.1) | 32 349 (8.6) | 4 634 (13.8) | 7 025 (15.1) | 9 446 (13.5) |
| TSDD >1 095 | 106 677 (20.2) | 55 032 (14.6) | 7 538 (22.4) | 13 321 (28.6) | 30 786 (43.9) |
*Cumulative benzodiazepine exposure: total standardized daily dose (TSDD) based on lorazepam equivalents summed over the 10-year exposure period, categorized as none (0), low (1–30), medium (31–365), and high (366+).
†Cumulative anticholinergic exposure: TSDD based on the minimum effective daily dose and summed over the 10-year exposure period.