Adverse effects of Z-drugs for sleep disturbance in people living with dementia: a population-based cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sleep disturbance is common in dementia and often treated with Z-drugs (zopiclone, zaleplon, and zolpidem). While some observational studies suggest that Z-drugs are associated with adverse events such as falls and fracture risks in older people, this has not been studied in dementia.

Methods

We used data from 27,090 patients diagnosed with dementia between January 2000 and March 2016 from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to Hospital Episodes Statistics data in England. We compared adverse events for 3532 patients newly prescribed Z-drugs by time-varying dosage to (1) 1833 non-sedative-users with sleep disturbance; (2) 10,214 non-sedative-users with proximal GP consultation matched on age, sex, and antipsychotic use; and (3) 5172 patients newly presc

SUBMITTER: Richardson K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7683259 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature