Prescription-based prevalence measures healthcare transactions rather than exposure at a specific event.
A Swiss insurance analysis estimated benzodiazepine and Z-drug prescribing prevalence and examined associations with healthcare admissions. Repeated prescriptions and prescribing by general practitioners were common features of the data.
Claims do not show whether a medicine was consumed, shared or left unused. Age, underlying illness and access to care may affect both prescriptions and admission outcomes.
Use the denominator and observation year explicitly. A prescription count is not a daily-use count or a measure of impairment. Individual toxicology opinions require actual administration history and analytical or behavioral evidence rather than assuming that a dispensation establishes exposure throughout the covered period.
Source: PMC8052118, supplied full-text paper. Findings are paraphrased; forensic implications are an interpretation.
Related: Valerian Interaction Claims Need Separate Pharmacokinetic and Sedative Evidence.