For a study, researchers sought to determine whether or not women who have been diagnosed with cervical cancer had a higher risk of using hypnotics, and we also found risk indicators for persistent usage. In this countrywide cohort study that was based on registrations, 4,264 women who were diagnosed with cervical cancer between the years 1997 and 2013 and 36,632 women who did not have cancer were followed in registers until 2016. It was determined that prolonged usage of hypnotics occurred when the patient had more than 3 prescriptions with a gap of no more than 3 months between each 1. For women with localized and advanced cervical cancer, the data were individually analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression models and multistate Markov models. First-time hypnotic usage was significantly higher among women with cervical cancer compared to women without cancer during the first year after diagnosis (HRlocalized 4.4, 95% CI 3.9-5.1; HRadvanced 8.9, 95% CI 7.5-10.6) and remained significantly higher for up to 5 years following diagnosis. At 1 year following diagnosis, 1.4 to 4.7 more women with cervical cancer were long-term users of hypnotics compared to cancer-free women, depending on disease stage and age. Older age, lower levels of education, prior use of antidepressants or anxiolytics, and more advanced disease were all associated with longer hypnotic usage. A higher proportion of women with cervical cancer also reported using hypnotics for extended periods of time. Most treatments with hypnotics began within the first year following a cancer diagnosis, but the incidence of the first usage was raised for up to 5 years.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0090825822003304
