Prescription Rates of Dental Benzodiazepines Higher in the United States Than Other Countries
Issue Number
764
May 18, 2021
AHRQ Stats
Access more data on this topic in the associated statistical brief, plus additional AHRQ data infographics.
Today's Headlines:
- Prescription Rates of Dental Benzodiazepines Higher in the United States Than Other Countries.
- Register Now: May 27 Webinar on New AHRQ Diagnostic Safety Measurement Resource.
- Clinicians Experience Challenges in Quality Measures Reporting.
- Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
- AHRQ in the Professional Literature.
Prescription Rates of Dental Benzodiazepines Higher in the United States Than Other Countries
An AHRQ study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that dental benzodiazepine prescriptions from 2013 to 2018 were 23 times higher in the United States compared with prescriptions in England, and seven times higher compared with prescriptions in Australia, when adjusting for population. Dentists may use benzodiazepines to manage patient anxiety before a procedure. Benzodiazepine prescribing is often associated with polydrug abuse and can lead to significant substance abuse and misuse. This study was the first to offer an international comparison of benzodiazepine prescriptions. Researchers concluded that to improve patient safety, further investigation to optimize use and determine choices of benzodiazepines in dental practice is needed. Access the abstract.
May 27 Webinar on New AHRQ Diagnostic Safety Measurement Resource
A May 27 webinar highlighted opportunities for healthcare organizations to field test an AHRQ diagnostic safety measurement resource designed to implement strategies for measuring and learning from diagnostic safety events. AHRQ was seeking 20 healthcare organizations of different sizes and types from across the United States to participate. The field test will be conducted through an AHRQ contract with the MedStar Health Institute for Quality and Safety. Send questions to MIQSInfo@medstar.net.
Clinicians Experience Challenges in Quality Measures Reporting
While quality measures reporting can help improve care, automated transfer of standardized measures from health systems to public health registries and federal reporting programs has proven challenging, according to an AHRQ-funded study published in Annals of Family Medicine. The authors recruited 256 family physicians from four health systems with mature quality measurement programs to test the reliable exchange of quality measures. The test found 15 types of errors related to production and transfer of quality data, including breaks in data delivery, changes in measures and nonsensical measure results. The authors suggest that, despite continued growth in health information technology adoption, most clinical practices struggle to produce standard quality measures from their clinical data and to meet a growing number of reporting needs. Access the abstract.
Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network
AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet) highlights journal articles, books and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include:
- Patient factors associated with new prescribing of potentially inappropriate medications in multimorbid US older adults using multiple medications.
- Comparison of methods to reduce bias from clinical prediction models of postpartum depression.
- Delayed or failure to follow-up abnormal breast cancer screening mammograms in primary care: a systematic review.
- Strategies to prevent missed nursing care: an international qualitative study based upon a positive deviance approach.
Review additional new publications in PSNet’s current issue or access recent cases and commentaries in AHRQ’s WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web).
AHRQ in the Professional Literature
Designing a multistakeholder collaboration to improve preventive care for children with sickle cell anemia. Bates KE, Davis CS, Reeves SL, et al. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 2020 Apr;42(3):e152-e8. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
The effects of survey version on patient experience scores and plan rankings. Beckett MK, Elliott MN, Burkhart Q, et al. Health Serv Res 2019 Oct;54(5):1016-22. Epub 2019 May 31. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Too much surgery: overcoming barriers to deimplementation of low-value surgery. Berlin NL, Skolarus TA, Kerr EA, et al. Ann Surg 2020 Jun;271(6):1020-2. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
The cost of implementing and sustaining the COMprehensive Post-Acute Stroke Services model. Bayliss WS, Bushnell CD, Halladay JR, et al. Med Care 2021 Feb;59(2):163-8. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) survey of experiences with ambulatory healthcare for Asians and non-Hispanic Whites in the United States. Ahmedov M, Pourat N, Liu H, et al. J Patient Rep Outcomes 2021 Mar 24;5(1):29. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Primary care practice environment and burnout among nurse practitioners. Abraham CM, Zheng K, Norful AA, et al. J Nurse Pract 2021 Feb;17(2):157-62. Epub 2021 Jan 11. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Improvement in activities of daily living during a nursing home stay and one-year mortality among older adults with sepsis. Downer B, Pritchard K, Thomas KS, et al. J Am Geriatr Soc 2021 Apr;69(4):938-45. Epub 2020 Nov 5. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Closing the loop on unscheduled diagnostic imaging orders: a systems-based approach. Lacson R, Gujrathi I, Healey M, et al. J Am Coll Radiol 2021 Jan;18(1 Pt A):60-7. Epub 2020 Oct 5. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
