A null-compatible estimate should not be rewritten as either established harm or established safety.
The Dutch cohort included 4,854 older adults after a first major osteoporotic fracture. Current benzodiazepine use had an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.18 for a subsequent fracture within one year, with a confidence interval of 0.76–1.81. The antidepressant result differed.
The observational design and imprecise benzodiazepine estimate leave room for several true effect sizes. Post-fracture patients differ from populations studied for first fractures. Dispensing and residual confounding limit causal interpretation, and results for antidepressants cannot be assigned to benzodiazepines.
For a fall or fracture opinion, identify whether the evidence concerns a first or subsequent event. Present the confidence interval and relevant baseline risks. This study did not establish a benzodiazepine-caused second fracture or demonstrate that continued use has no risk.
Source: Publication PMC6208956. The case-review applications above are interpretive analysis.
Related reading: Hip-Fracture Payment Study Found Changes in Post-Discharge Psychotropic Prescribing.