Table 2

Factors related to long-term benzodiazepine prescription among new users of benzodiazepines (n=74 044)

	OR	95% CI to P value	P value
Age	1.02	1.01 to 1.02	<0.001
Sex, male	1.14	1.06 to 1.23	<0.001
Occupational status, employed	0.98	0.91 to 1.06	0.58
Cancer	1.18	1.08 to 1.29	<0.001
Medical specialty, psychiatry	1.80	1.68 to 1.94	<0.001
Psychiatric diagnosis
None	Ref.
Mood disorder (F3)	3.30	3.01 to 3.62	<0.001
Neurotic, stress-related and somatic disorder (F4)	1.49	1.36 to 1.62	<0.001
Mood and neurotic disorders (F3 and F4)	3.53	3.19 to 3.90	<0.001
Other disorders	2.37	2.00 to 2.80	<0.001
Multiple BZDs on first prescription	1.41	1.28 to 1.54	<0.001
Type of BZD*
Hypnotic	Ref.
Anxiolytic	0.61	0.57 to 0.66	<0.001
Both	0.93	0.83 to 1.05	0.27
Administration instructions*
As needed	Ref.
Regular prescription: 1 week (1–7 days)	1.98	1.82 to 2.15	<0.001
Regular prescription: 2 weeks (8–14 days)	1.91	1.76 to 2.07	<0.001
Regular prescription: more than 2 weeks (≥15 days)	1.83	1.67 to 2.02	<0.001
Half-life of BZD*
Short (<12 hours)	Ref.
Medium (12–24 hours)	1.08	1.01 to 1.16	0.03
Long (≥24 hours)	0.96	0.89 to 1.04	0.32

*Characteristics of BZD with the longest prescription days in the first prescription.
BZD, benzodiazepines and Z-drugs.