Benzodiazepine Prescription Patterns After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in U.S. Military Service Members
Authors: Earyes Lauren , Agimi Yll , Stout Katharine 
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and clinical recommendations (CRs) are developed to aide and guide providers in treating a variety of conditions, including traumatic brain injury (TBI). There is little knowledge on the impact that CPGs and CRs have on provider practice. One TBI recommendation that was able to be tracked in medical record codes was the use of benzodiazepines (BZD). Because of potential for misuse, diversion, addiction, cognitive impairment, and brain healing interference, the DoD and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) jointly discourage prescribing BZD after TBI. As part of an effort to look at translation of CPG guidance into clinical practice, our objective was to examine the issuance of BZD prescriptions, including dose, type, and prescribing provider, prescribing setting, and primary diagnosis at issuance among U.S. service members with mild Traumatic Brian Injury (mTBI).

Materials and Methods

Using DoD data sourced from the Comprehensive Ambulatory/Professional Encounter Record (CAPER) databases of the Military Health System (MHS) Medical Data Repository (MDR), we identified all U.S. service members with a first lifetime diagnosis of mTBI from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. Data on prescriptions issued to this group during a period of active treatment for a mTBI were obtained from the Pharmacy Detail Transaction Service (PDTS) databases of the MDR and identified BZD prescriptions based on the American Hospital Formulary Service (AHFS) therapeutic classification system. We validated coding assumptions through structured review of the clinical record contained within the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) of 30 randomly selected cohort members.

Results

Among U.S. service members, 4.5% filled a BZD prescription while under active medical treatment for a recent mTBI. These service members were more likely female and older when compared to their counterparts not prescribed BZD. Among service members under active treatment for mTBI during the study period, 52.6% (n = 7,935) filled a prescription; of these, 8.5% (n = 676) filled a BZD prescription. Of U.S. service members filing a BZD prescription while undergoing active treatment for an mTBI, 64.6% (n = 437) filled prescriptions for BZD and antidepressants, 54.9% (n = 371) filled prescriptions for both BZD and NSAIDS, and 42.2% (n = 285) concurrently filled prescriptions for BZD and opioids.

Conclusions

This effort to examine the translation of CPG recommendations into practice through evaluation of medical record data indicates that providers are prescribing BZD to patients under active treatment for an acute mTBI. The mTBI CPG recommends that the BZD class of medications be avoided in patients healing from brain injury. However, the team recognizes there are confounding factors that may impact the medications that are prescribed for patients with mTBI. Additional work to understand how CPGs and CRs are received and utilized by providers may elucidate opportunities to close the gap between clinical practice guidance and clinical practice.