ArticleJournal of pharmaceutical policy and practice2018
Analysis of changes in trends in the consumption rates of benzodiazepines and benzodiazepine-related drugs.
Article in Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence for deprescription in primary care through an umbrella review.BMC family practice · 2020Pooled it
- Evaluation of the Biases in the Studies that Assess the Effects of the Great Recession on Health. A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Reducing prescribing of benzodiazepines in older adults: a comparison of four physician-focused interventions by a medical regulatory authority.BMC family practice · 2021Trial
- Cost-utility analysis of benzodiazepine deprescription in primary care: a cohort study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Role of gender, age and rurality in benzodiazepine consumption in Catalonia, 2018-2022: a retrospective longitudinal drug utilisation study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in Catalonia.Family medicine and community health · 2025Article
- Change in the chemical content of untreated wastewater of Athens, Greece under COVID-19 pandemic.The Science of the total environment · 2021Article
- The Use of Non-Prescribed Prescription Drugs and Substance Use Among College Students: A 9-Year Follow-Up Cohort Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Association of benzodiazepines, opioids and tricyclic antidepressants use and falls in trauma patients: Conditional effect of age.PloS one · 2020Article
- Past-year use of prescription opioids and/or benzodiazepines among adults in the United States: Estimating medical and nonmedical use in 2015-2016.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2019Article
- Selective stimulation of central GABANeuroscience · 2019Article
- Physicians' beliefs and attitudes about Benzodiazepines: a cross-sectional study.BMC family practice · 2019Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo analyse trends in the rates of consumption of benzodiazepine (BZD) anxiolytics, BZD hypnotics and non-BZD hypnotics and the association with contextual factors.
methodsDescriptive time series study. Units of analysis were monthly dose per inhabitant per day (DID) and dose per medical card per day(DCD) of benzodiazepine(BZD anxiolytics(BZD-A), BZD hypnotics(BZD-H) and non-BZD hypnotics(Non-BZD-H) between January 2006-December 2015. We analysed 6 primary healthcare districts(PHD) and used defined daily doses (DDDs) to calculate the monthly DIDs(overall and by ATC group). Trends and monthly percentage change (MPC) were analysed through joinpoint regression.
resultsThe annual DID increased by 26% overall, the trend was different across ATC groups. Consumption in BZD-A and BZD-H increased (27.1%,61.9%), consumption in Non-BZD-H decreased by 35%. There was high variability in DCD across the PHD, with an overall increase of 10.2%(5.7%-22.9%). By ATC, DCD increased by 10.4% in BZD-A(4.2%-22.2%) and by 44.2% in BZD-H(33.2%-76.5%). The overall DCD in the Non-BZD-H decreased by 42.1%(19.7%-50.8%). We found an initial upward trend in consumption of BZD-A until April/2008(monthly percentage change -MPC- +0.5%), followed by a slightly slower increase (+0.1%). No changes in trend were detected in BZD-H. In Non-BZD-H, we observed an upward trend until February/2013(+0.1%), followed by a sharp decrease until August/2013(-6.3%), and finally a slight decrease(-0.3%).
conclusionsBZD consumption has increased in the last decade, with variability across areas. The changes in trends do not coincide with the financial crisis, introduction of prescriptions by active ingredient, electronic prescriptions or copayment. The only decrease in the Non-BZD-H may be linked to an intervention.
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