An association between benzodiazepine use and occurrence of benign brain tumors.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
This study was designed to evaluate the impact of long-term benzodiazepine use on the subsequent risk of benign brain tumor (BBT) or malignant brain tumor (MBT) development.
METHOD:
We used data from the National Health Insurance System of Taiwan. For the study cohort, we identified 62,186 patients who had been prescribed benzodiazepine for at least 2 months between January 1, 2000 and December, 31, 2009. For each of the benzodiazepine cases, we randomly selected one insured person from the non-benzodiazepine cohort with frequency matching sex, age, and year of index date. The non-benzodiazepine cohort comprised 62,050 patients. The related hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of developing brain tumors were investigated.
RESULTS:
The overall BBT incidence rate was 3.33-fold higher in the benzodiazepine cohort than the non-benzodiazepine cohort (46.3 vs 13.9 per 100,000 person-years) with an adjusted HR of 3.15 (95% CI=2.37-4.20). Similarly, the MBT incidence rate was 84% higher in the benzodiazepine cohort (3.71 vs 2.02 per 1000 person-years), and the adjusted HR of 1.21 (95% CI=0.52-2.81) was not statistically significant. When compared with the non-benzodiazepine cohort, the adjusted HRs of BBTs increased with benzodiazepine dosage (adjusted HR=2.12, 95% CI=1.45-3.10, for 36-150 mg/year; adjusted HR=7.03, 95% CI=5.19-9.51, for ≥151 mg/year).
CONCLUSION:
In this population-based study, we found a significant increase in the risk of benign brain tumor development in a cohort of long-term BZD users.
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Benign brain tumor (BBT); Benzodiazepine; Cohort study; Malignant brain tumor (MBT); National Health Insurance System; Population-based
