Lorazepam and the Risk of Serious Adverse Events

Exclusion criteria

• ✕. Individuals with missing administrative database number, missing or invalid age (\<0 or \>105 years), missing or invalid sex, death on or before the index date, non-Ontario resident (for Ontario data), or non-Alberta residents (for Alberta data).
• ✕. Individuals less than 66 years of age on the index date.
• ✕. Those with evidence of any study drug prescription 180 days before the index date (to restrict to new users only).
• ✕. Individuals with other benzodiazepine and benzodiazepine-related drugs (alprazolam, bromazepam, chlordiazepoxide, clobazam, clonazepam, clorazepate, diazepam, ketazolam, midazolam, estazolam, flurazepam, nitrazepam, oxazepam, temazepam, triazolam, eszopiclone, zopiclone, and zolpidem) prescription in the previous 180 days before the index date or on the index date.
• ✕. Individuals with more than one study drug prescription on the index date, as this complicates the ability to ascertain the prescribed dose accurately.
• ✕. Evidence of other related drugs (melatonin, trazodone, doxepin, and suvorexant) and non-oral formulations of the study drugs in the previous 180 days, including the index date.
• ✕. Individuals with end-stage renal disease, chronic dialysis, or a kidney transplant prior to the index date.
• ✕. Evidence with hospital discharge or emergency department visit in the two days prior to or on the index date to ensure a new outpatient prescription.