Hypnotics and Mortality in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Hospital and National Data-Based Analysis

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may experience insomnia and use hypnotics. However, the effect of the use of hypnotics on their clinical course remains unclear.

Is the use of hypnotics associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients with IPF?

This study included 99 patients with IPF from the Hamamatsu hospital-based cohort and 123 patients with IPF from the Seirei hospital-based cohort, as well as 30,218 patients with IPF from the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan (the NDB cohort). To analyze the association of hypnotics use with outcomes avoiding immortal time bias, multivariable Cox models with time-dependent covariates and target trial emulation with a new user design were used for the hospital- and NDB-based cohorts.

In the cohorts studied, the 3-year cumulative incidence of new use of hypnotics following the IPF diagnosis ranged from 13.4% to 24.1%. In both hospital-based cohorts, the continuous use of hypnotics was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality and disease progression. In the NDB cohort, the continuous use of hypnotics was also associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality. Subgroup analysis found associations between the continuous use of hypnotics and increased mortality regardless of sex and comorbidities, excluding certain subpopulations.

This study found that continuous use of hypnotics was associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients with IPF. Given the relatively high cumulative incidence of hypnotics use in this population, there is an urgent need to reassess the appropriate use of hypnotics for patients with IPF.