7 Questions on US Benzodiazepine & Opioid Prescribing Trends
Sample: Approximately what percentage of physician office visits at which benzodiazepines were coprescribed with opioids were with a primary care provider?
Coprescribing benzodiazepines and opioids can increase a patient's risk of respiratory depression. A 2019 trend analysis that used data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), however, found that in 2015 alone, opioids were prescribed at 26.4% of physician office visits at which there was also a benzodiazepine prescription.
To evaluate the characteristics of office-based physician visits where benzodiazepines are prescribed as well as visits that involve overlapping opioid prescriptions in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a National Health Statistics Report that examined data from the 2014-2016 NAMCS.
The following 7 questions, based on the report, will test what you know about the dangerous trends and serve as a primer, as well.
