Benzodiazepines are a class of prescription medications with sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, and anticonvulsant properties. In 2013, the CDC reported that Benzodiazepines were responsible for almost one-third of overdose deaths involving prescription drugs in the United States. To investigate national trends concerning Benzodiazepine use, a recent study analyzed national data related to prescribing practices (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey) and overdose-related deaths (multiple cause-of-death data from CDC) involving Benzodiazepines. From 1996-2013, the percent of U.S. adults filling a Benzodiazepine prescription increased from 4.1% to 5.6%. The quantity of benzodiazepines filled increased from 1.1 to 3.6kg lorazepam equivalents per 100,000 U.S. adults. Lastly, the overdose death rate involving Benzodiazepines increased from 0.58 to 3.07 per 100,000 adults, and this rate appeared to plateau after 2010.
Take Away: Based on the national data analyzed in this study, an upward trend was observed from 1996-2013 for both the overdose mortality and the prescriptions filled involving Benzodiazepines. This report cites several mechanisms that may explain this increase, including the concomitant use of prescription opioids and benzodiazepines. The authors call for future studies to investigate these mechanisms in order to establish effective interventions to improve safe use of Benzodiazepines.