ArticleJournal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999)2019
Benzodiazepine Use Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Neurocognitive Impairment in People Living With HIV.
Article in Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence of potentially inappropriate medications in people living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Latent HIV Reservoirs in the Central Nervous System: Mechanisms, Barriers, and Therapeutic Approaches.ACS infectious diseases · 2026Review
- The Effects of Prescribed Medications on Depressive Symptoms and Neurocognitive Performance in People With HIV.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- Risk factors for suicide among veterans living with and without HIV: a nested case-control study.AIDS and behavior · 2024Article
- Mechanisms underlying HIV-associated cognitive impairment and emerging therapies for its management.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2023Review
- Therapeutically targeting the consequences of HIV-1-associated gastrointestinal dysbiosis: Implications for neurocognitive and affective alterations.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2023Article
- Anticholinergic and Sedative Medications Are Associated With Neurocognitive Performance of Well Treated People With Human Immunodeficiency Virus.Open forum infectious diseases · 2022Article
- The association between benzodiazepine use and greater risk of neurocognitive impairment is moderated by medical burden in people with HIV.Journal of neurovirology · 2022Article
- Assessing the clinical utility of the severity dependence scale for benzodiazepine use disorder.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2021Article
- Translocator protein 18 kDa: a potential therapeutic biomarker for post traumatic stress disorder.Metabolic brain disease · 2020Review
- The effects of medication therapy management on medication utilization among Medicare beneficiaries with HIV/AIDS.Journal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhAArticle
- Association between the brief inventory of neurocognitive impairment (BINI) and objective cognitive testing among persons with opioid use disorders in drug treatment.Journal of addictive diseasesArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveDespite potential for dependence and adverse neurological effects, long-term benzodiazepine (BZD) use is common among people living with HIV (PLWH). As PLWH are at risk for central nervous system dysfunction, we retrospectively examined the association between BZD use and HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (NCI).
methodsThree hundred six PLWH underwent comprehensive neurobehavioral evaluations. Current BZD use (BZD+) was determined through self-report. Using propensity scores, 153 BZD- individuals were matched to 153 BZD+ participants on demographics and medical comorbidities. Multiple regression models examined NCI and demographically adjusted neurocognitive T-scores as a function of BZD status, adjusting for estimated premorbid ability, current affective symptoms, and nadir CD4 count. Secondary analyses explored neurocognitive correlates of positive BZD urine toxicology screens (TOX+) and specific BZD agents.
resultsMedian duration of BZD use was 24 months. Current BZD use related to higher likelihood of NCI (odds ratio = 2.13, P = 0.003) and poorer global (d = -0.28, P = 0.020), processing speed (d = -0.23, P = 0.047), and motor T-scores (d = -0.32, P = 0.008). Compared with BZD-/TOX-, BZD+/TOX+ exhibited additional decrements in executive function (d = -0.48, P = 0.013), working memory (d = -0.49, P = 0.011), and delayed recall (d = -0.41, P = 0.032). For individual agents, diazepam, lorazepam, and alprazolam were most strongly associated with NCI (odds ratios >2.31). DISCUSSION: BZD use may elevate risk for NCI in PLWH, potentially through diffuse neurocognitive slowing and acute compromise of recall and higher-order capacities. These effects are robust to psychosocial and HIV-specific factors and occur in comparison with a tightly matched BZD- group. Prospective and interventional studies should evaluate causal associations between NCI and BZD use and explore treatment alternatives to BZDs in PLWH.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.