ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2006
GPs' attitudes to benzodiazepine and 'Z-drug' prescribing: a barrier to implementation of evidence and guidance on hypnotics.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 118 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of Benzodiazepine, Z-Drug and Melatonin Use in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Australasian journal on ageing · 2026Pooled it
- Psychopharmacological Therapy Positively Modulates Disease Activity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A systematic review of interventions to deprescribe benzodiazepines and other hypnotics among older people.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2017Pooled it
- Benzodiazepines, Z-drugs and the risk of hip fracture: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- General practitioners' experiences and perceptions of benzodiazepine prescribing: systematic review and meta-synthesis.BMC family practice · 2013Pooled it
- Effectiveness of non-benzodiazepine hypnotics in treatment of adult insomnia: meta-analysis of data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2012Pooled it
- Trial
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an educational intervention for practice teams to deliver problem focused therapy for insomnia: rationale and design of a pilot cluster randomised trial.BMC family practice · 2009Trial
- Self-reported sleep variables, sleep quality, and quality of life assessment in transition to lemborexant in patients with Insomnia: the multicenter, open-label SOMNUS study.Sleep medicine: X · 2025Article
- Facilitators and barriers to the deprescribing of benzodiazepines and Z-drug hypnotics in patients under 65 on adult mental health wards.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Benefits and risks of sleep medication in individuals with hypertension and sleep disturbance: evidence from a large population-based study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Article
- Dependence on zopiclone: a case report.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Factors affecting clinical pharmacist decision-making when reviewing and prescribing z-drugs in primary care: a qualitative interview study.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Article
- Effects of Japanese policies and novel hypnotics on long-term prescriptions of hypnotics.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2023Article
- Physicians' attitudes toward hypnotics for insomnia: A questionnaire-based study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Structural and dynamic mechanisms of GABANature communications · 2022Article
- Overdose deaths involving non-BZD hypnotic/sedatives in the USA: Trends analyses.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2022Article
- Perception of the Regulatory Change for Zolpidem Prescription by French General Practitioners and Its Relation to Prescription Behavior.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Addressing Barriers to Reducing Prescribing and Implementing Deprescribing of Sedative-Hypnotics in Primary Care.The Annals of pharmacotherapy · 2022Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on byZ-drugs.2007
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Zaleplon, zolpidem, and zopiclone ('Z-drugs') prescribing is gradually rising in the UK, while that of benzodiazepine hypnotics is falling. This situation is contrary to current evidence and guidance on hypnotic prescribing. The aim of this study was to determine and compare primary care physicians' perceptions of benefits and risks of benzodiazepine and Z-drug use, and physicians' prescribing behaviour in relation to hypnotics using a cross-sectional survey. In 2005 a self-administered postal questionnaire was sent to all GPs in West Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust. The questionnaire investigated perceptions of benefits and disadvantages of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs. Of the 107 questionnaires sent to GPs, 84 (78.5%) analysable responses were received. Responders believed that Z-drugs were more effective than benzodiazepines in terms of patients feeling rested on waking (P<0.001), daytime functioning (P<0.001), and total sleep time (P = 0.03). Z-drugs were also thought to be safer in terms of tolerance (P<0.001), addiction (P<0.001), dependence (P<0.001), daytime sleepiness (P<0.001), and road traffic accidents (P = 0.018), and were thought to be safer for older people (P<0.001). There were significant differences between GPs' perceptions of the relative benefits and risk of Z-drugs compared with benzodiazepines. The majority of practitioners attributed greater efficacy and lower side effects to Z-drugs. GPs' beliefs about effectiveness and safety are not determined by current evidence or national (NICE) guidance which may explain the increase in Z-drug prescribing relative to benzodiazepine prescribing.
Indexed as
Identifiers
17132386PMC1934058W2150983533What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.