SynthesisAmerican journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias2014
Efficacy and tolerability of benzodiazepines for the treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 87 citations in OpenAlex.
- What Makes Deprescription of Psychotropic Drugs in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia so Challenging? A Qualitative Systematic Review of Barriers and Facilitators.Drugs & aging · 2021Pooled it
- Impact of national partnership to improve dementia care on antipsychotic use duration for dementia residents in nursing homes.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- Review
- Behavioral symptoms of dementia and psychotropic use during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Article
- Pharmacological management in frontotemporal dementia and patient outcomes: a retrospective cohort study using the TriNetX platform.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Article
- Access of medication review for people living with dementia: An analysis of inequality using Swedish register data.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Psychotropic medications versus non-pharmacologic approaches for managing behavioural and psychological symptoms in Australian aged care residents with dementia: general practitioners' and physicians' perspectives.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Parenteral medication for the management of acute severe behavioural disturbance (ASBD) in the emergency department.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Dying with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in Australian nursing homes: a retrospective case-control study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Managing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) in the Era of Boxed Warnings.Current psychiatry reports · 2022Review
- New Possibilities in the Therapeutic Approach to Alzheimer's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Article
- The Behavioral Effects of Combination Therapy of Memantine and Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors Compared with Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors Alone in Patients with Moderate Alzheimer's Dementia: A Double-Blind Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.Psychiatry investigation · 2021Article
- Agitation and Dementia: Prevention and Treatment Strategies in Acute and Chronic Conditions.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Review
- Use of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: Prevalence and Appropriateness.Journal of Alzheimer's disease reports · 2021Article
- Canadian Guidelines on Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonist Use Disorder Among Older Adults Title.Canadian geriatrics journal : CGJ · 2020Article
- Management of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia.Current psychiatry reports · 2019Review
- Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Dementia: Considerations for Pharmacotherapy in the USA.Drugs in R&D · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The objective of this review is to summarize the available data on the use of benzodiazepines for the treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A systematic search of 5 major databases, PubMed, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, EMBASE, and Cochrane Collaboration, yielded a total of 5 RCTs. One study compared diazepam to thioridazine, 1 trial compared oxazepam to haloperidol and diphenhydramine, 1 trial compared alprazolam to lorazepam, 1 trial compared lorazepam to haloperidol, and 1 trial compared intramuscular (IM) lorazepam to IM olanzapine and placebo. The data indicates that in 4 of the 5 studies, there was no significant difference in efficacy between the active drugs to treat the symptoms of BPSD. One study indicated that thioridazine may have better efficacy than diazepam for treating symptoms of BPSD. In 1 study, the active drugs had greater efficacy in treating BPSD when compared to placebo. There was no significant difference between the active drugs in terms of tolerability. However, in 2 of the 5 studies, about a third of the patients were noted to have dropped out of the studies. Available data, although limited, do not support the routine use of benzodiazepines for the treatment of BPSD. But these drugs may be used in certain circumstances where other psychotropic medications are unsafe for use in individuals with BPSD or when there are significant medication allergies or tolerability issues with certain classes of psychotropic medications.
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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.