Benzodiazepine use in all alcohol consumers predicts use of opioids in patients 20 years later--a follow-up study of 13,390 men and women aged 40-42 years.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of the consumption of benzodiazepines at age 40-42 years on prescription of opioids later in life.
Methods: A cohort of 6707 men and 6683 women aged 40-42 years reported no use of analgesics in health surveys in 1985-1989. This cohort was linked to the Norwegian prescription database (NorPD) and their prescriptions of opioids during 2004-2006 were analysed. Low-high, moderate-high and high prescription frequency of opioids were defined as at least 6, 12 or 16 prescriptions during January 2004-December 2006. Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were used as comparators.
Results: The unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) for low-high prescription frequency of opioids for men and women using benzodiazepines were 3.8 (95%CI 2.5-5.7) and 3.4 (2.6-4.4), respectively, as compared with non-users. After adjustment for alcohol, smoking habits and socio-economic variables, the ORs were lowered for both sexes: 2.6 (1.7-4.0) in men and 2.5 (1.9-3.3) in women. The adjusted OR for those with high prescription of opioids was higher for both sexes: 4.5 (2.4-8.5) in men and 3.7 (2.4-5.7) in women. A stratified analysis revealed no relationship between benzodiazepine use and later low and moderate prescription frequency of opioids among teetotallers. The adjusted ORs for low-high prescription frequency NSAID use for men and women using benzodiazepines were 1.6 (1.1-2.4) and 1.6 (1.3-2.0), respectively.
Conclusion: In this study population, a history of benzodiazepine use raised the chance of being prescribed opioids later in life among those who also used alcohol.