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Prescription Benzodiazepine Use in Privately Insured U.S. Children and Adolescents.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed in the U.S. but entail safety concerns, including dependency. In pediatrics, many indications lack trial data. Authors aimed to describe youth initiating prescription benzodiazepine treatment, identify potential indications and prescribing concerns, estimate the duration of treatment by potential indication, and identify factors that predict long-term use. METHODS:The study cohort included children (aged 3-12 years) and adolescents (aged 13-17 years) initiating prescription benzodiazepine treatment (?3 days' supply) from January 2010 to September 2015 in a U.S. commercial claims database. Potential indications included selected ICD-9-CM diagnoses (?30 days prior). Long-term (?6 months) benzodiazepine treatment was estimated with Kaplan-Meier estimation and modified Poisson regression identified independent predictors of long-term benzodiazepine treatment (analysis completed in 2018). RESULTS:Of 24,504 children and 61,046 adolescents initiating benzodiazepines, 62% of the children and 68% of the adolescents had a potential indication. Anxiety disorders were the most common indication, with mental health indications more common among adolescents (45%) than children (23%) and epilepsy and movement disorders higher in children. Recent opioid prescriptions were common before benzodiazepine initiation (children, 22%; adolescents, 21%). Six percent of the initiators became long-term benzodiazepine users. Potential indication, provider contact, psychotropic medication, and chronic conditions independently predicted long-term benzodiazepine treatment in adolescents and children. CONCLUSIONS:U.S. children and adolescents are prescribed benzodiazepines for various mental health and other medical conditions, many lacking evidence of pediatric efficacy. Long-term benzodiazepine treatment, concurrent opioid prescriptions, psychotropic use, and prior substance use disorder diagnoses suggest safety risks among some youth prescribed benzodiazepines.

SUBMITTER: Bushnell GA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6935869 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prescription Benzodiazepine Use in Privately Insured U.S. Children and Adolescents.

Bushnell Greta A GA Crystal Stephen S Olfson Mark M

American journal of preventive medicine 20191201 6

<h4>Introduction</h4>Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed in the U.S. but entail safety concerns, including dependency. In pediatrics, many indications lack trial data. Authors aimed to describe youth initiating prescription benzodiazepine treatment, identify potential indications and prescribing concerns, estimate the duration of treatment by potential indication, and identify factors that predict long-term use.<h4>Methods</h4>The study cohort included children (aged 3-12 years) and adolesce ...[more]

PMID: 31753258

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Project description:BackgroundIn the past two decades, the U.S. saw an alarmingly increasing trend of benzodiazepine prescribing. Mandatory use of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) was suggested to have the potential to reduce opioid prescribing, but little is known about its impacts on benzodiazepines. This study examined whether PDMP data use mandates were associated with changes in benzodiazepine prescribing in the U.S. Methods: Aggregate state quarterly prescription drug records of benzodiazepines for Medicaid enrollees during 2010-2017 were obtained from the U.S. Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data. Three population-adjusted outcome variables were evaluated, including quantity, dosage, and Medicaid spending of benzodiazepine prescriptions per quarter per 100 Medicaid enrollees. The primary policy variable was the state-wide implementation of PDMP data use mandates for benzodiazepines. To account for between-state variations in mandates, an additional policy variable was considered to indicate strong mandates on PDMP data use, which required all prescribers to query a patient's PDMP records for first prescribing and subsequent prescribing at least every 12 months. Linear regressions with difference-in-difference approach were used to assess the associations between PDMP data use mandates and benzodiazepine prescribing, controlling for state-level time-varying policy and socioeconomic covariates. Results: The state-wide implementation of PDMP data use mandates for benzodiazepines was not associated with quantity, dosage, or Medicaid spending of benzodiazepine prescriptions. Strong mandates on PDMP data use were not associated with any benzodiazepine prescribing outcomes, either. Conclusions: There was no evidence for the associations between PDMP data use mandates for benzodiazepines and changes in benzodiazepine prescribing among Medicaid enrollees. Future research is warranted to replicate the study in other populations using individual patient records and continuously monitor the trends in benzodiazepine prescribing in association with PDMPs.

Project description:BACKGROUND:National guidelines make recommendations regarding the initial opioid prescriptions, but most of the supporting evidence is from the initial episode of care, not the first prescription. OBJECTIVE:To examine associations between features of the first opioid prescription and high-risk opioid use in the 18 months following the first prescription. DESIGN:Retrospective cohort study using data from a large commercial insurance claims database for 2011-2014 to identify individuals with no recent use of opioids and follow them for 18 months after the first opioid prescription. PARTICIPANTS:Privately insured patients aged 18-64 and Medicare Advantage patients aged 65 or older who filled a first opioid prescription between 07/01/2011 and 06/30/2013. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:High-risk opioid use was measured by having (1) opioid prescriptions overlapping for 7 days or more, (2) opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions overlapping for 7 days or more, (3) three or more prescribers of opioids, and (4) a daily dosage exceeding 120 morphine milligram equivalents, in each of the six quarters following the first prescription. KEY RESULTS:All three features of the first prescription were strongly associated with high-risk use. For example, among privately insured patients, receiving a long- (vs. short-) acting first opioid was associated with a 16.9-percentage-point increase (95% CI, 14.3-19.5), a daily MME of 50 or more (vs. less than 30) was associated with a 12.5-percentage-point increase (95% CI, 12.1-12.9), and a supply exceeding 7 days (vs. 3 or fewer days) was associated with a 4.8-percentage-point increase (95% CI, 4.5-5.2), in the probability of having a daily dosage of 120 MMEs or more in the long term, compared to a sample mean of 4.2%. Results for the Medicare Advantage patients were similar. CONCLUSIONS:Long-acting formulation, high daily dosage, and longer duration of the first opioid prescription were each associated with increased high-risk use of opioids in the long term.

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Prescription Benzodiazepine Use in Privately Insured U.S. Children and Adolescents.

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Prescription Benzodiazepine Use in Privately Insured U.S. Children and Adolescents.

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