Opioid and benzodiazepine dispensing and co-dispensing patterns among commercially insured pregnant women in the United States, 2007-2015.
Danya M QatoAakash Bipin GandhiPublished in: BMC pregnancy and childbirth (2021)
This study provides evidence that while opioid dispensing during pregnancy has decreased in the past decade, benzodiazepine dispensing has increased. The prevalence of opioid-benzodiazepine co-dispensing was rare and remained fairly stable during our study period. Those co-dispensed both drugs had a higher prevalence of adverse birth outcomes. Further research to establish the potentially causal relationship between opioid and benzodiazepine co-dispensing and adverse birth outcomes should be undertaken.