INCREASED RISK OF ISCHEMIC-HEART-DISEASE MORTALITY IN ELDERLY MEN USING ANXIOLYTICS-HYPNOTICS AND ANALGESICS - RESULTS OF THE 10-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF THE PROSPECTIVE POPULATION STUDY MEN BORN IN 1914, MALMO, SWEDEN

Objectives. An increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortalit y in users of anxiolytic-hypnotic drugs (AHD) has been reported, and u se of analgesics may be an additional factor. Therefore, we examined t he association of AHD and analgesic use, alone and in combination, wit h all-cause and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) mortality. Method's: Mul tivariate 10-year survival analysis in a population based cohort of 50 0 men born in 1914. Relative risks (RR) were adjusted by relevant conf ounders (blood pressure, serum cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, smoking habit, high alcohol consumption, history of previous IHD, cancer, and other diseases). Results: The RR of both all-cause and IHD mortality were significantly increased among those using both AHD and analgesics compared to those who took neither of these drugs: RR = 1.8 for all-c ause mortality, and RR = 2.7 for IHD mortality. Conclusion. Although t he number of cases was small, warranting interpretative caution, the c urrent study suggests that the combined use of AHD (mainly benzodiazep ines) and analgesics seems to be associated with an increase in all-ca use and IHD mortality in elderly men.