Exposure to benzodiazepines (anxiolytics, hypnotics and related drugs) in seven European electronic healthcare databases: a cross-national descriptive study from the PROTECT-EU Project.

Purpose: Studies on drug utilization usually do not allow direct cross-national comparisons because of differences in the respective applied methods. This study aimed to compare time trends in BZDs prescribing by applying a common protocol and analyses plan in seven European electronic healthcare databases.

Methods: Crude and standardized prevalence rates of drug prescribing from 2001-2009 were calculated in databases from Spain, United Kingdon (UK), The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.

Do case-only designs yield consistent results across design and different databases? A case study of hip fractures and benzodiazepines.

Background: The case-crossover (CXO) and self-controlled case series (SCCS) designs are increasingly used in pharmacoepidemiology. In both, relative risk estimates are obtained within persons, implicitly controlling for time-fixed confounding variables.

Objectives: To examine the consistency of relative risk estimates of hip/femur fractures (HFF) associated with the use of benzodiazepines (BZD) across case-only designs in two databases (DBs), when a common protocol was applied.

Do oral antimuscarinic drugs carry an increased risk of acute urinary retention?

Purpose: We determined whether men treated with oral antimuscarinics are at increased risk for acute urinary retention.

Materials And Methods: In this population based, retrospective cohort study using a nested case-control design we analyzed data from a large primary care database containing patient information entered by general practitioners in the United Kingdom. Our study cohort comprised men 20 to 84 years old.

The risk of upper gastrointestinal complications associated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids, acetaminophen, and combinations of these agents.

Most anti-inflammatory drugs have been associated with an increased risk of serious upper gastrointestinal complications. Epidemiological studies have estimated the magnitude of the risk for specific anti-inflammatory drugs. The risk of upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding or perforation increases around twofold with use of oral steroids or low dose aspirin, and increases around fourfold with use of nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.