ArticleEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2009
Starting insomnia treatment: the use of benzodiazepines versus z-hypnotics. A prescription database study of predictors.
Article in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 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.
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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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Eszopiclone for insomnia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Quality analysis of research on the use of benzodiazepines by elderly patients in the emergency room: a systematic review.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2013Pooled it
- Decoupled but Intertwined Association Between Dissociation and Depression: The Impact of Sleep and Gastrointestinal Symptoms.Psychiatry investigation · 2025Article
- Article
- Insomnia management in Dutch general practice: a routine care database study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2023Article
- Is the Long-Term Use of Benzodiazepines Associated With Worse Cognition Performance in Highly Educated Older Adults?Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Twelve-year trend in the use of zolpidem and physicians' non-compliance with recommended duration: a Korean national health insurance database study.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Article
- Observational
- Multimorbidity and use of hypnotic and anxiolytic drugs: cross-sectional and follow-up study in primary healthcare in Iceland.BMC family practice · 2016Article
- Benzodiazepine prescription for patients in treatment for drug use disorders: a nationwide cohort study in Denmark, 2000-2010.BMC psychiatry · 2016Article
- The total sale of prescription drugs with an abuse potential predicts the number of excessive users: a national prescription database study.BMC public health · 2015Article
- [Benzodiazepine hypnotics, zolpidem and zopiclone on private prescriptions: use between 1993 and 2012].Der Nervenarzt · 2014Article
- Article
- Retrospective population cohort study on hip fracture risk associated with zolpidem medication.Sleep · 2014Article
- Mechanisms of zolpidem-induced long QT syndrome: acute inhibition of recombinant hERG K(+) channels and action potential prolongation in human cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells.British journal of pharmacology · 2013Article
- Benefits and risks of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs: comparison of perceptions of GPs and community pharmacists in Germany.German medical science : GMS e-journal · 2013Article
- Use of addictive anxiolytics and hypnotics in a national cohort of incident users in Norway.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2012Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeDrugs prescribed for the treatment of insomnia can be either benzodiazepine hypnotics or the newer z-hypnotics, zopiclone and zolpidem. This paper explores possible explanations for the choice made.
methodsData from the Norwegian Prescription Database covering the entire population was studied for incident users of hypnotics. Possible predictors were age, gender, previous psychotropic or analgesic drug use and prescriber speciality.
resultsOf the 73,163 incident users of hypnotics, 3876 were prescribed benzodiazepine hypnotics in 2006. The strongest predictors for being prescribed benzodiazepines were previous use of anxiolytics [odds ratio (OR) 1.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-2.0] and male gender (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.4-1.6). Other significant predictors were antipsychotic or opioid drug use and the prescriber being a psychiatrist.
conclusionsZ-hypnotics were commonly prescribed. Norwegian drug therapy recommendations also suggest a preference for z-hypnotics. The clear predominance of the shorter acting z-hypnotics may be due to the fact that only longer acting benzodiazepines are available in Norway. Reasons for prescribing benzodiazepines may be co-morbid psychiatric illness, such as anxiety, or a belief that benzodiazepine hypnotics are more effective than z-hypnotics.
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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.