Opioid and benzodiazepine prescription among patients with cirrhosis compared to other forms of chronic disease

ObjectiveData on patterns and correlates of opioid and benzodiazepines prescriptions among patients with chronic conditions are limited. Given a diminished capacity for hepatic clearance, patients with cirrhosis represent a high risk group for use. The aim of this study was to characterise the patterns and correlates of prescription opioid, benzodiazepine and dual drug prescriptions among individuals with common chronic diseases.DesignAnalysis of Truven Marketscan database to evaluate individuals with drug coverage with cirrhosis (n=169,181), chronic hepatitis C without cirrhosis (n=210 191), congestive heart failure (n=766 840) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n=1 438 798). Pharmacy files were examined for outpatient prescriptions.ResultsPatients with cirrhosis had a significantly higher prevalence of opioid prescriptions (37.1 per 100 person-years vs 24.3–26.0, p≤0.001) and benzodiazepine prescriptions (21.3 per 100 person-years vs 12.1–12.9, p90 daily oral morphine equivalents) (29.1% vs 14.4%, p