Clinicians who prescribe sedative hypnotics should counsel patients on driving risk. A new study revealed that the risk of getting into an automobile accident with certain hypnotics was the same as having a blood alcohol level of between 0.06% and 0.11%.

The new user cohort trial involved 409,171 adults seen in an integrated health care system. Investigators tied health plan data to driver license and accident records. They found that nearly 6% received new prescriptions for sedatives, which represented more than 11,000 person-years of exposure.

Using proportional hazard regression to approximate crash risk linked with three sedatives, researchers found drivers were:

• 2.2 times more likely than nonusers to have an accident while on zolpidem;

• 1.91 times more likely while taking trazodone; and

• 1.27 times more likely while on temazepam.

In addition to advising patients about driving risk, researchers urged clinicians to carefully consider length of treatment.

Citation: Hansen R, Boudreau D, Ebel B, et al. Sedative Hypnotic Medication Use and the Risk of Motor Vehicle Crash . Am J Public Health. 2015;105(8):e64-69.