BMJ : British medical journal
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Objectives To evaluate the risk of all cause mortality associated with initiating compared with not initiating benzodiazepines in adults, and to address potential treatment barriers and confounding related to the use of a non-active comparator group. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Large de-identified US commercial healthcare database (Optum Clinformatics Datamart). ⋯ Conclusions This large population based cohort study suggests either no increase or at most a minor increase in risk of all cause mortality associated with benzodiazepine initiation. If a detrimental effect exists, it is likely to be much smaller than previously stated and to have uncertain clinical relevance. Residual confounding likely explains at least part of the small increase in mortality risk observed in selected analyses.
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Review Meta Analysis
Effect of specialist palliative care services on quality of life in adults with advanced incurable illness in hospital, hospice, or community settings: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Objective To assess the effect of specialist palliative care on quality of life and additional outcomes relevant to patients in those with advanced illness. Design Systematic review with meta-analysis. Data sources Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, and trial registers searched up to July 2016. ⋯ Conclusions Specialist palliative care was associated with a small effect on QoL and might have most pronounced effects for patients with cancer who received such care early. It could be most effective if it is provided early and if it identifies though screening those patients with unmet needs. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42015020674.