Benzodiazepines or Related Drugs and Risk of Pneumonia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objective: Benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs (BZRDs) are used to treat various psychiatric diseases. However, there are concerns that BZRDs increase the risk of pneumonia.

Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies to determine whether BZRD use affects the risk of pneumonia. Our analysis included all observational studies that compared pneumonia development among patients receiving BZRD vs those with no treatment.

Results: In total, 12 citations of 10 studies involving more than 120,000 pneumonia cases were included in our meta-analysis. After pooling the estimates, the odds for developing pneumonia were 1.25-fold higher (odd ratio, OR = 1.25; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.09-1.44) in BZRD users compared with individuals who had not taken BZRD. On the basis of exposure window, we found an increased risk of pneumonia among current (OR = 1.4; 95%CI, 1.22-1.6) and recent (OR = 1.38; 95%CI, 1.06-1.8) users, but not with the past users (OR = 1.11; 95%CI, 0.96-1.27).

Conclusion: Current or recent exposure to BZRD is associated with an increased pneumonia risk. Clinicians need to weight the benefit-risk balance of BZRD use, especially those with other risk factors for pneumonia.