Impact of academic detailing on benzodiazepine use among veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

AbstractBackground: Benzodiazepine use in the US Veterans Administration (VA) has been decreasing; however, a small number of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continue to receive benzodiazepine. Academic detailing, a targeted-educational outreach intervention, was implemented at VA to help reduce the disparity between existing and evidence-based practices, including the reduction in benzodiazepine use in veterans with PTSD. Since evidence to support the national implementation of academic detailing in this clinical scenario was scarce, we performed a quality improvement evaluation on academic detailing’s impact on benzodiazepine use in veterans with PTSD. Methods: A retrospective cohort design was used to evaluate the impact of academic detailing on benzodiazepine prescribing in veterans with PTSD from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016. Providers exposed to academic detailing (AD-exposed) were compared with providers unexposed to academic detailing (AD-unexposed) using generalized es...