Patient and Facility Characteristics Associated With Benzodiazepine Prescribing for Veterans With PTSD

ObjectivePractice guidelines used in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) caution against benzodiazepine use by veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of inefficacy and safety concerns. Although use has declined, the VHA prescription rate is ≥30% nationally. To inform intervention design, this study examined patient- and facility-level correlates of benzodiazepine prescribing.MethodsThis cross-sectional study used 2009 national administrative VHA data to identify veterans with PTSD, benzodiazepine prescriptions, and various patient and facility characteristics. Correlates of benzodiazepine prescribing were determined with multivariable hierarchical logit models.ResultsAmong 137 VHA facilities, 495,309 veterans with PTSD were identified, and 150,571 (30.4%) received a benzodiazepine prescription. Patient characteristics independently associated with benzodiazepine use included female gender, age ≥30 years, rural residence, service-connected disability ≥50%, Vietnam-era service, dura...