ArticleGeneral hospital psychiatry
Association between suicide death and concordance with benzodiazepine treatment guidelines for anxiety and sleep disorders.
Article in General hospital psychiatry. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prescribed benzodiazepines and suicidal behaviors: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and clinical implications.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Multicenter toxicological analysis of psychoactive substances in suicide victims in Brazil.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2026Article
- Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Completion in Benzodiazepine Users: A Systematic Review of Current Evidence.Cureus · 2025Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 10 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveGuidelines for management of anxiety and sleep disorders emphasize antidepressant medications and/or psychotherapy as first/second-line and benzodiazepines as third-line treatments. We evaluated the association between suicide death and concordance with benzodiazepine guidelines.
methodsRetrospective case-control study of patients with anxiety and/or sleep disorders from health systems across 8 U.S. states within the Mental Health Research Network. Suicide death cases were matched to controls on year and health system. Appropriate benzodiazepine prescribing defined as: no monotherapy, no long duration, and/or age < 65 years. The association between guideline concordance and suicide death was evaluated, adjusting for diagnostic and treatment covariates.
resultsSample included 6960 patients with anxiety disorders (2363 filled benzodiazepine) and 6215 with sleep disorders (1237 filled benzodiazepine). Benzodiazepine guideline concordance was associated with reduced odds for suicide in patients with anxiety disorders (OR = 0.611, 95% CI = 0.392-0.953, p = 0.03) and was driven by shorter duration of benzodiazepine use with concomitant psychotherapy or antidepressant medication. The association of benzodiazepine guideline concordance with suicide death did not meet statistical significance in the sleep disorder group (OR = 0.413, 95% CI = 0.154-1.11, p = 0.08).
conclusionsWe found reduced odds for suicide in those with anxiety disorders who filled benzodiazepines in short-moderate duration with concomitant psychotherapy or antidepressant treatment.
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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.