title: Benzodiazepine use and risk of dementia: prospective population based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the association between use of benzodiazepines and incident dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, population based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  PAQUID study, France.
  
  
  METHODS
  1063 men and women (mean age 78.2 years) who were free of dementia and did not start taking benzodiazepines until at least the third year of follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Incident dementia, confirmed by a neurologist.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During a 15 year follow-up, 253 incident cases of dementia were confirmed. New use of benzodiazepines was associated with an increased risk of dementia (multivariable adjusted hazard ratio 1.60, 95% confidence interval 1.08 to 2.38). Sensitivity analysis considering the existence of depressive symptoms showed a similar association (hazard ratio 1.62, 1.08 to 2.43). A secondary analysis pooled cohorts of participants who started benzodiazepines during follow-up and evaluated the association with incident dementia. The pooled hazard ratio across the five cohorts of new benzodiazepine users was 1.46 (1.10 to 1.94). Results of a complementary nested case-control study showed that ever use of benzodiazepines was associated with an approximately 50% increase in the risk of dementia (adjusted odds ratio 1.55, 1.24 to 1.95) compared with never users. The results were similar in past users (odds ratio 1.56, 1.23 to 1.98) and recent users (1.48, 0.83 to 2.63) but reached significance only for past users.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this prospective population based study, new use of benzodiazepines was associated with increased risk of dementia. The result was robust in pooled analyses across cohorts of new users of benzodiazepines throughout the study and in a complementary case-control study. Considering the extent to which benzodiazepines are prescribed and the number of potential adverse effects of this drug class in the general population, indiscriminate widespread use should be cautioned against.
authors.affiliation: Université Bordeaux Segalen, F-33000 Bordeaux, France. sophie.billiotidegage@u-bordeaux2.fr
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Billioti de Gage
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bégaud
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bazin
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verdoux
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Dartigues
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pérès
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurth
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pariente
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D001569:Benzodiazepines