Table 1

Potential predictors for new benzodiazepine use measure during the baseline year.

Predictors
Details

Patient Demographics:
Age in years
Measured at baseline in years
Gender
Comparing women to men.
Measures of health care use:
Prescribing Physicians
Number of distinct physicians prescribing medication in baseline year.
Hospital Discharges
Number of discharges in baseline year from acute care hospitals.
Charlson Co-morbidity Index[59]
Adapted by Deyo et al for administrative databases[60] provided baseline measure of disease severity and comorbid conditions.
Diagnosis for impairments or disabilities associated with an increase risk for falls:
Previous Injuries from Falls
Any fracture or soft tissue injury including fracture of the hip, upper extremity fractures, lower extremity fractures requiring medical treatment in the baseline year.
Visual Impairment
ICD-9: 360–379
Arthritis
ICD9: 274, 710 to 725–730, 733
Stroke
ICD-9: 430–438
Depression
ICD-9: 311, 298.0, 296.2, 296.3, 309.1, 300.0–300.4
Neurological Disorders
Including dementia and Parkinson's disease: ICD-9: 290, 294, 331 to 337, 340–342, 344
Seizure Disorders
Including epilepsy: ICD-9: 345, 780.3
Osteoporosis
ICD-9: 733.0, 731.0
Misc. Impairments
any other conditions not included in other categories that could increase the risk of falls or injuries (i.e. sprained knee)
Alcohol Abuse
and/or dependence: ICD-9: 303, 291, 305.0, 535.3, 571.0–571.3, 265.2,425.5
Drug Abuse
and/or dependence: ICD-9: 304, 305.1–305.9, 292
Non-benzodiazepine medication protective of fractures:
Thiazide Diuretics & Estrogen
AHF: 40:28:00; 40:28:10; 68:12:00; 68:16:00
Non-benzodiazepine medication associated with an increase risk of falls:
Anti-Depressants
AHF: 28:16:04
Anti-Psychotics
AHF: 28:16:08
Sedatives
AHF: 28:24:92
Miscellaneous Psychotropics
AHF: 28:28:00 (lithium, l-tryptophan)
Non-benzodiazepine medications known to alter motor stability:
Cardiac Drugs
AHF: 24:04:00
Anti-Hypertensives
AHF: 24:08:00
Vasodilators
AHF: 24:12:00
Opioid Agonists
AHF: 28:08:08
Mixed Partial Opioid Agonists/Antagonists
AHF: 28:08:12

Bartlett et al. BMC Family Practice 2009 10:1   doi:10.1186/1471-2296-10-1