Posted by shadowtom2 on August 5, 2016, at 19:05:28
In reply to Re: Study on medications and risk of death » shadowtom2, posted by Phillipa on August 5, 2016, at 17:48:49
Phillipa,
Here's the exact quote from the Psychiatric Times article:
"By contrast, exposure to benzodiazepines was associated with a significantly higher overall mortality, with a 74% higher risk of death in subjects with high exposure compared with no use."
My thinking as I was reading that sentence was that the author of the article seemed to be saying that the risk of overall mortality was significantly higher among those who've taken benzodiazepines than it was among those who haven't taken benzodiazepines, with the risk being the highest (74 percent higher than those in the "no exposure" group) among those whose cumulative exposure to to the medications was at a high level. I took a look at the actual paper that was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry (which can be found here:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kristina_Alexanderson/publication/286510395_Mortality_and_Cumulative_Exposure_to_Antipsychotics_Antidepressants_and_Benzodiazepines_in_Patients_With_Schizophrenia_An_Observational_Follow-Up_Study/links/569e344008ae950bd7a94709.pdf), and even though I still think that it's technically correct that the mortality risk among those from the study who took benzodiazepines was higher overall than it was for those who didn't take the medications, those from the group who had a low cumulative exposure to benzodiazepines actually did not at all seem to have a higher mortality risk than those who didn't taken any benzodiazepines. So, what you said about the mortality risk not being higher among those whose exposure to benzodiazepines was low in comparison to those who didn't take benzodiazepines is correct.
However, as far as the mortality rates for those in both the "moderate exposure" group and the "high exposure" group for benzodiazepines were concerned, they were significantly higher than the mortality rate was for those who didn't take benzodiazepines. According to the authors of the paper, "In a sensitivity analysis among first-episode patients (1,230 patients, 45 deaths), the only statistically significant findings were a decreased risk of death for low (adjusted hazard ratio=0.47, 95% CI=0.230.97) and moderate (adjusted hazard ratio=0.18, 95% CI=0.070.45) exposure to antipsychotics, and increased mortality for moderate (adjusted hazard ratio=2.72, 95% CI=1.106.73) and high (adjusted hazard ratio=3.86, 95% CI=1.41 10.55) exposure to benzodiazepines."
I'd also like to make it clear that the study that was discussed in the Psychiatric Times article and that I've also discussed here looked specifically at patients who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and not at a more diverse group of patients with mental health conditions. I didn't make this clear in the first post that I made to this thread.
Tom
"Maybe someday
We'll figure all this out
We'll put an end to all our doubt
Try to find a way to just feel better now"- Rob Thomas
poster:shadowtom2
thread:1091175
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160713/msgs/1091179.html