title: Association Between Zolpidem Use and Glaucoma Risk: A Taiwanese Population-Based Case-Control Study.
abstract: Background: To date, the relationship between zolpidem use and subsequent risk of glaucoma in a Taiwanese population has not been assessed.Methods: We used data from the National Health Insurance system to investigate whether zolpidem use was related to glaucoma risk. A 1:4 matched case-control study was conducted. The cases were patients newly diagnosed with glaucoma from 2001 to 2010. The controls were randomly selected non-glaucoma subjects matched by sex and age (±5 years). Zolpidem exposure and/or the average dosage of zolpidem used (mg/year) were evaluated. Medical comorbidities were considered as confounding factors. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the potential risk of zolpidem exposure on glaucoma with/without adjustment for the effects of confounding variables.Results: The exposure rate of zolpidem use in the glaucoma group was significantly higher than that of the control group (2.8% vs. 2.0%, P < 0.0001). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of the risk of glaucoma for those with zolpidem use vs. those without was 1.19 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.38). Compared to non-zolpidem users, zolpidem users with an average dose of more than 200 mg/year had significantly increased risk of glaucoma (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.03-1.68).Conclusions: This study suggests that the use of zolpidem might increase the risk of subsequent glaucoma. Further confirmatory studies are recommended to clarify this important issue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, China Medical University Hospital.
authors.forename: Yi-Hao
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Yue-Cune
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Wei-Cheng
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hsin-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Che-Chen
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Fung-Chang
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sung