ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2016
Benzodiazepine and z-hypnotic prescribing for older people in primary care: a cross-sectional population-based study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potentially inappropriate medication in the elderly: a systematic review of validated explicit criteria.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2018Pooled it
- A brief intervention to discontinue inappropriate z-hypnotics use by older patients in primary care: a randomised controlled trial.BMC primary care · 2026Trial
- Brief Intervention for Discontinuing Inappropriate Z-Hypnotic Use Among Older Patients in Primary Care: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial With a Single Crossover.JMIR research protocols · 2026Trial
- Reducing prescribing of benzodiazepines in older adults: a comparison of four physician-focused interventions by a medical regulatory authority.BMC family practice · 2021Trial
- The combined association of STOPPFall medication use and orthostatic blood pressure abnormalities with future falls and fractures in community-dwelling older people.European geriatric medicine · 2026Article
- Identifying Predictors and Measuring Variation in Anticholinergic Burden and Sedative Load for Older Adult Care Home Residents: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Routinely Collected Data.Pragmatic and observational research · 2026Article
- Sedative-hypnotic drug use and risk of falls and fractures in elderly patients: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Self-reported sleep disturbance and inappropriate z-hypnotic use among older adults in general practice.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2025Article
- Psychiatric and racial/ethnic differences in incident and long-term benzodiazepine use: A commercial healthcare claims study.Journal of psychiatric research · 2025Article
- A scoping review of motor vehicle operator performance assessments for benzodiazepine receptor agonists.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2024Article
- Long-term benzodiazepine prescriptions in community psychiatry clinics.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2024Article
- [Private Prescriptions In East And West Germany - A Secondary Data Analysis].Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband der Arzte des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany)) · 2023Article
- Psychotropic medication use and future unexplained and injurious falls and fracture amongst community-dwelling older people: data from TILDA.European geriatric medicine · 2023Article
- The Role of Private Prescriptions in Benzodiazepine and Z-Drug Use.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2022Article
- Insights into patient characteristics and documentation of the use of sedative-hypnotic/anxiolytics in primary care: a retrospective chart review study.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Addressing Barriers to Reducing Prescribing and Implementing Deprescribing of Sedative-Hypnotics in Primary Care.The Annals of pharmacotherapy · 2022Article
- Observational
- Non-benzodiazepine hypnotic use for sleep disturbance in people aged over 55 years living with dementia: a series of cohort studies.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2021Article
- Article
- Trends in the consumption rates of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs in the health region of Lleida from 2002 to 2015.BMC public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundOverall prescribing of benzodiazepines and z-hypnotics (B&Zs) has slowly reduced over the past 20 years. However, long-term prescribing still occurs, particularly among older people, and this is at odds with prescribing guidance.
aimTo compare prescribing of B&Zs between care home and non-care home residents ≥65 years old. DESIGN AND
settingCross-sectional population-based study in primary care in Scotland.
methodNational patient-level B&Z prescribing data, for all adults aged ≥65 years, were extracted from the Prescribing Information System (PIS) for the calendar year 2011. The PIS gives access to data for all NHS prescriptions dispensed in primary care in Scotland. Data were stratified by health board, residential status, sex, and age (65-74, 75-84, and ≥85 years). To minimise disclosure risk, data from smaller health boards were amalgamated according to geography, thereby reducing the number from 14 to 10 areas.
resultsA total of 17% (n = 879 492) of the Scottish population were aged ≥65 years, of which 3.7% (n = 32 368) were care home residents. In total, 12.1% (n = 106 412) of older people were prescribed one or more B&Z: 5.9% an anxiolytic, 7.5% a hypnotic, and 1.3% were prescribed both. B&Zs were prescribed to 28.4% (9199) of care home and 11.5% (97 213) of non-care home residents (relative risk = 2.88, 95% CI = 2.82 to 2.95, P<0.001). Estimated annual B&Z exposure reduced with increasing age of care home residents, whereas non-care home residents' exposure increased with age.
conclusionB&Zs were commonly prescribed for older people, with care home residents approximately three times more likely to be prescribed B&Zs than non-care home residents. However, overall B&Z exposure among non-care home residents was found to rise with increasing age.
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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.