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Long-term benzodiazepine use is less likely when shorter courses, a single medication or short-acting agents are prescribed, per cohort study of more than 1.8 million Canadian adults which could inform prescribing practices

06.18.26 | PLOS
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Long-term benzodiazepine use is less likely when shorter courses, a single medication or short-acting agents are prescribed, per cohort study of more than 1.8 million Canadian adults which could inform prescribing practices
Researchers assess long-term benzodiazepine use in Canada. Credit: Haley Lawrence, Unsplash (CC0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Medicine : https://plos.io/4uxybkF

Article title: Association between initial benzodiazepine prescribing patterns and time to benzodiazepine discontinuation: A population-based retrospective cohort study

Author countries : Canada

Funding: This study was funded by a Womenmind Grant to co-principal investigators NB and TG https://www.camh.ca/en/get-involved/join-the-cause/womenmind . The Funders did not play any role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

PLOS Medicine

10.1371/journal.pmed.1005126

Observational study

People

Competing interests: see manuscript

Additional Media

Long-term benzodiazepine use is less likely when shorter courses, a single medication or short-acting agents are prescribed, per cohort study of more than 1.8 million Canadian adults which could inform prescribing practices
Preventing long-term benzodiazepine use infographic. Credit: Bozinoff N, et al., 2026, PLOS Medicine, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Keywords

Depressants Drug Combinations Drug Dosage Medications North America

Article Information

Journal
PLOS Medicine
DOI
10.1371/journal.pmed.1005126
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
People
COI Statement
Competing interests: see manuscript

Contact Information

Claire Turner
PLOS
medicinepress@plos.org
Media team
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
media@camh.ca

How to Cite This Article

APA:
PLOS. (2026, June 18). Long-term benzodiazepine use is less likely when shorter courses, a single medication or short-acting agents are prescribed, per cohort study of more than 1.8 million Canadian adults which could inform prescribing practices. Brightsurf News. https://www.brightsurf.com/news/8X5YQEY1/long-term-benzodiazepine-use-is-less-likely-when-shorter-courses-a-single-medication-or-short-acting-agents-are-prescribed-per-cohort-study-of-more-than-18-million-canadian-adults-which-could-inform-p.html
MLA:
"Long-term benzodiazepine use is less likely when shorter courses, a single medication or short-acting agents are prescribed, per cohort study of more than 1.8 million Canadian adults which could inform prescribing practices." Brightsurf News, Jun. 18 2026, https://www.brightsurf.com/news/8X5YQEY1/long-term-benzodiazepine-use-is-less-likely-when-shorter-courses-a-single-medication-or-short-acting-agents-are-prescribed-per-cohort-study-of-more-than-18-million-canadian-adults-which-could-inform-p.html.