ArticleAnnals of surgical oncology2026
Double Jeopardy: Risks of Opioid-Benzodiazepine Co-prescription in Older Adults with Gastrointestinal Cancer.
Article in Annals of surgical oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- ASO Author Reflections: Double Jeopardy-Risks of Opioid-Benzodiazepine Co-prescription in Older Adults with Gastrointestinal Cancer.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOpioid analgesics and benzodiazepines are frequently prescribed to manage pain, anxiety, and insomnia in older adults with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, yet outcomes of concurrent use are incompletely defined. PATIENTS AND
methodsUsing linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare (2014-2018), daily exposure was classified as no opioid/benzodiazepine, opioid only, or opioid-benzodiazepine co-prescription and overdose; falls/fractures, all-cause hospitalization, and all-cause mortality within 12 months were assessed. Time-varying Cox models compared opioid-only and co-prescription versus no exposure, and for incremental risk, co-prescription versus opioid-only.
resultsAmong 26,896 patients (median age 74 years; 53.1% female), 5086 (18.9%) received concurrent opioid-benzodiazepine prescriptions and 2288 (8.5%) received opioids alone. Within 12 months, among patients unexposed, opioid-only, and co-prescribed, unadjusted first-event rates per 100,000 person-days (95% CI) were: falls/fractures 27.8 (26.7-28.9), 55.0 (47.1-63.9), and 61.0 (50.8-72.5); all-cause hospitalizations 393.0 (388.0-398.0), 439.0 (410.0-470.0), and 441.0 (406.0-480.0); overdose 1.40 (1.20-1.70), 6.20 (3.80-9.50), and 8.80 (5.32-13.83); and mortality 11.5 (10.8-12.2), 20.6 (15.9-26.1), and 29.6 (22.8-37.9), respectively (global p < 0.001). In adjusted models versus no exposure, both opioid-only and co-prescribed patients had higher hazards of adverse outcomes. Using opioid-only as reference, co-prescription was associated with incremental hazards of all-cause hospitalization (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.23) and all-cause mortality (HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.06-1.73).
conclusionsOpioid exposure was associated with elevated risk, while the addition of benzodiazepines conferred incremental increases in hospitalization and mortality versus opioid-only use.
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