Benzodiazepine-like hypnotics and the assoicated risk of road traffic accidents

The association between the use of benzodiazepine or benzodiazepine-like hypnotics and the risk of road traffic accidents was investigated in this study. Three French national databases supplied the data which were matched: the police database of injury-related traffic accidents, the health-care insurance database, and police reports. Included in this study were a total of 72,685 drivers involved in injury-related road traffic accidents in France, from 2005 to 2008. The risk of being responsible for a traffic accident was higher in users of benzodiazepine hypnotics (odds ratio (OR) = 1.39 (1.08-1.79)) and in the 155 drivers to whom a dosage of more than one pill of zolpidem a day had been dispensed during the 5 months before the collision (OR = 2.46 (1.70-3.56)). The use of zopiclone and risk of traffic accidents was found to have no association. The potential risk related to possible abuse of the drug and risky driving behaviors should be further investigated, even though this study did not find any association between the use of zolpidem as recommended and causation of traffic accidents. Consistent with those of previous studies are the results related to benzodiazepine hypnotics.

• Record URL:
  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21368756
• Authors:
  • Orriols, L
  • Philip, P
  • Moore, N
  • Castot, A
  • Gadegbeku, B
  • Delorme, B
  • Mallaret, M
  • Lagarde, E
• Publication Date: 2011-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 595-601
• Serial:
  • Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
  • Volume: 89
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Mosby (CV) Company

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash data; Databases; Drug effects; Drugged drivers; Police reports; Traffic crashes
• Identifier Terms: Zolpidem
• Uncontrolled Terms: Benzodiazepine; Causal relationships; National data registry
• Geographic Terms: France
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01351834
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 14 2011 11:13AM