ReviewClinical drug investigation2016
Benzodiazepine Use, Misuse, and Harm at the Population Level in Canada: A Comprehensive Narrative Review of Data and Developments Since 1995.
Review in Clinical drug investigation, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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
35 citing papers in PubMed, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Benzodiazepine Use and Mortality Risk: A Nationwide Cohort Study on New Benzodiazepine Users With a 5-Year Follow-Up.Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Global emergence and γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAArchives of toxicology · 2026Article
- Association between initial benzodiazepine prescribing patterns and time to benzodiazepine discontinuation: A population-based retrospective cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2026Article
- Community pharmacists' practices and perspectives on deprescribing high-risk psychotropic medicines: National survey findings.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Article
- Supporting General Practitioners to Deprescribe Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs in Primary Care: Findings From a Modified Delphi Study.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2026Article
- Drug harms in Canada: A multi-criteria decision analysis.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Benzodiazepine receptor agonist deprescribing principles for long-term use and dependence: modified Delphi recommendations from a multi-disciplinary expert panel.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Multi-target regulatory mechanisms and clinical assessment of natural products for insomnia: a review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Benzodiazepine-related polysubstance use and hospital resource utilization in older trauma patients: a retrospective multicenter study.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2026Article
- Article
- Off-Label Prescription of Benzodiazepines: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Prescribing Prevalence in Primary Care.Clinical drug investigation · 2025Article
- Benzos (as) needed: research into as-needed and intermittent benzodiazepines for anxiety is required for comprehensive best prescribing practices.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Is alcohol and psychoactive medication use associated with excess hospital length-of-stay and admission frequency? A cross-sectional, observational study.BMC emergency medicine · 2024Observational
- Drug Safety and Suicidality Risk of Chronic Pain Medications.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Prepandemic psychotropic drug status in Portugal: a nationwide pharmacoepidemiological profile.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- [Status of Health Economics Research on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2023Review
- [Appropriate Use and Abuse of Sedative-Hypnotic Drugs].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2023Review
- Principles of care for pregnant and parenting people with substance use disorder: the obstetrician gynecologist perspective.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- Global trends in antidepressant, atypical antipsychotic, and benzodiazepine use: A cross-sectional analysis of 64 countries.PloS one · 2023Article
- A protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing Sleepwell, EMPOWER, and treatment-as-usual for benzodiazepine receptor agonist discontinuation in older adults: the your answers when needing sleep in New Brunswick (YAWNS NB) study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed psycho-pharmaceuticals (e.g., for anxiety, tension, and insomnia); they are generally considered safe but have potential adverse effects. Benzodiazepine use in Canada versus internationally is comparably high, yet no recent comprehensive review of use, misuse, or related (e.g., morbidity, mortality) harm at the population level exists; the present review aimed to fill this gap. We searched four key scientific literature databases (Medline, CINAHL, EBM Reviews, and Web of Science) with relevant search terms, and collected relevant "gray literature" (e.g., survey, monitoring, government reports) data published in 1995-2015. Two reviewers conducted data screening and extraction; results were categorized and narratively summarized by key sub-topics. Levels of benzodiazepine use in the general population have been relatively stable in recent years; medical use is generally highest among older adults. Rates of non-medical use are fairly low in general but higher in marginalized (e.g., street drug use) populations; high and/or inappropriate prescribing appears common in older adults. Benzodiazepines are associated with various morbidity outcomes (e.g., accidents/injuries, cognitive decline, sleep disturbances, or psychiatric issues), again commonly observed in older adults; moreover, benzodiazepines are identified as a contributing factor in suicides and poisoning deaths. Overall there is a substantial benzodiazepine-related health problem burden-although lower than that for other psycho-medications (e.g., opioids)-in Canada, mainly as a result of overuse and/or morbidity. National benzodiazepine prescription guidelines are lacking, and few evaluated interventions to reduce benzodiazepine-related problems exist. There is a clear need for reducing inappropriate benzodiazepine use and related harm in Canada through improved evidence-based practice as well as monitoring and control.
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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.