2024/10/01 by Chunbao Mo, Shuang Wang, Xia Li +6
Medicine · Psychology · #Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation #Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue #Sleep and related disorders
paper · doi:10.1177/00368504241295325
crossref issued 2024/10/01 · crossref published 2024/10/01 · crossref published-print 2024/10/01 · openalex publication_date 2024/10/01 · crossref published-online 2024/11/03 · crossref created 2024/11/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/05/01 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Background Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are commonly prescribed as adjunctive drugs for patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), particularly those who experience anxiety or insomnia. However, the relationship between the use of BZDs and incident risk of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) has not been well investigated. In this study, we aimed to examine the association between the use of BZDs and the incident risk of SCA among patients with CVD. Method In this retrospective cohort study, a total of 74,715 eligible patients with new-onset CVD as a primary cause of hospitalization between July 2016 and August 2022 were included from the health information platform in Shenzhen, China. Among them, 61,761 BZD non-initiators were identified and matched to 12,954 BZD initiators by propensity score at a maximum ratio of 5:1. Propensity score-matched Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results Over a 12-month follow-up period, 29 (2.24 per 1000 person-years) and 137 (2.22 per 1000 person-years) SCA cases occurred among propensity score-matched BZD initiators and non-initiators, respectively. Patients who initiated BZD treatment were associated with a 101% increased risk of SCA incidence compared with patients without BZD treatment (adjusted HR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.42, 2.83). Furthermore, compared with the non-use (0 defined daily dose, DDD), the adjusted HR was 1.43 (95% CI: 1.32, 1.56) for the BZD consumption of ≤1 DDD and 2.58 (95% CI: 2.37, 2.81) for the BZD consumption of >1 DDD ( P for trend < 0.001) within a 12-month follow-up period. Conclusion This study provides evidence that BZD initiation may be associated with an increased incident risk of SCA in patients with CVD. Our finding highlights the importance of cautious prescribing BZDs in the health management of patients with CVD.