New research shows how combining anxiety medications and opioids can be risky for elderly patients
Harrisburg, PA
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December 21, 2021 11:43 AM Eastern Standard Time
A new analysis from the Patient Safety Authority (PSA) demonstrates that despite the documented risks, benzodiazepines are used together with opioid pain medications among patients aged 65 and older in the hospital setting. The combination can cause changes in mental status, breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. In two-thirds of cases studied, a reversal agent was required to treat the reaction. The report is published in the December 2021 issue of PATIENT SAFETY.
Researchers at the Patient Safety Authority reviewed 80 patient safety reports from January through December 2020 from 39 facilities throughout Pennsylvania. The most common adverse drug reactions (ADRs) related to this combination of medications occurred in the surgical, imaging/ diagnostic and medical-surgical care areas.
The cases studied are from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System, the largest database of its kind in the United States.
“The problem may be much larger than it appears,” says executive director, Regina Hoffman, MBA, RN. “Many ADRs go unreported, so we believe our analysis likely only includes a fraction of those related to the combination of benzodiazepines and opioids with elderly patients. Our goal is to make providers more aware of the risks. We hope they may re-evaluate their prescribing habits and facility practices and move toward safer patient care for this vulnerable population.”
Other topics in this issue of PATIENT SAFETY include:
- Emergence delirium and patient risk: what can we do? – Patient Safety Authority researchers offer a data analysis of safety events related to perioperative delirium and offer a four-phase intervention package to reduce risk to patients and providers.
- COVID nurses and PTSD - Just when we need them most, many nurses caring for patients on the front lines feel abandoned and expendable. Cassandra Alexander relates the toll the daily struggle has taken on her mental health—a sobering glimpse at the experiences of nurses like her around the country.
- Atrial fibrillation and cancellations - New-onset atrial fibrillation can pose a significant patient safety risk during the perioperative period. The Patient Safety Authority examines the impact and opportunities for improvement in ambulatory surgical facilities.
- Fixing healthcare: how activated patients can guide us forward – One critical way to make healthcare safer is to involve the patients themselves. What does it mean to be activated and how may it save your life? Patient engagement expert Dr. Judith Hibbard explains the importance and how to do it.
- A study and a toolkit to reduce urinary tract infections (UTIs) in long-term care facilities - UTIs are common in long-term care facilities, but they’re notoriously difficult to diagnose. The Patient Safety Authority analyzed trends in rates, infection types and treatments. Researchers offer a toolkit they developed to help reduce the occurrence of UTIs and promote antibiotic stewardship.
PATIENT SAFETY is the peer-reviewed journal of the Patient Safety Authority. A scientific publication, PATIENT SAFETY humanizes patient harm with stories, opinion pieces, and magazine-quality design. It has a readership of more than 45,000 people in 164 countries.
About PSA
Established under the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act of 2002, the PSA, an independent state agency, collects and analyzes patient safety data to improve safety outcomes and help prevent patient harm. http://patientsafety.pa.gov/
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