ReviewHarvard review of psychiatry
Prescription Benzodiazepine Use Among Older Adults: A Critical Review.
Review in Harvard review of psychiatry. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is there a link between the use of benzodiazepines and related drugs and dementia? A systematic review of reviews.European geriatric medicine · 2022Pooled it
- 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
- Effect of Remimazolam on Postoperative Delirium in Older Adult Patients Undergoing Orthopedic Surgery: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.Drug design, development and therapy · 2023Trial
- Initiation of High-Potency Benzodiazepine Prescriptions Among Survivors of Severe Trauma.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Benzodiazepine-related polysubstance use and hospital resource utilization in older trauma patients: a retrospective multicenter study.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2026Article
- Epidemiological evolution and healthcare services utilization in elderly dementia patients of Catalonia.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Benzodiazepine-receptor agonist prescription in a population of hospitalised patients in four psychogeriatric units in Switzerland.Journal of sleep research · 2025Article
- Benzodiazepine Utilization in Ischemic Stroke Survivors: Analyzing Initial Excess Supply and Longitudinal Trends.Stroke · 2024Article
- Chronic benzodiazepine usage among older people: prevalence, indications, and treatment modifications in patients admitted to an acute geriatric unit.European geriatric medicine · 2024Article
- Prevalence and Treatment of Substance Misuse in Older Adults: Beyond Early Adulthood.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2024Review
- Use of Psychoactive Medications and Risk of Suicide in Late Life (75+): A Total Population Study.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2023Article
- The sleep patterns and their associations with mental health among nursing home residents: a latent profile approach.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Comprehensive Multimorbidity Patterns in Older Patients Are Associated with Quality Indicators of Medication-MoPIM Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Observational
- Benzodiazepine and antipsychotic use among hospitalized older adults before versus after restricting visitation: March to May 2020.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2022Article
- Trends and Geographic Variabilities in Benzodiazepines Prescription in Primary Care to Older Adults: A 3-Year Population-Based Ecological Study in Portugal.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- As-Needed Prescribing and Administration of Psychotropic Medications in Assisted Living: A 7-State Study.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2022Article
- Factors associated to potentially inappropriate prescribing in older patients according to STOPP/START criteria: MoPIM multicentre cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Use of potentially driver-impairing drugs among older drivers.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- A bibliometric analysis of the recent advances in diazepam from 2012 to 2021.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Psychological and Psychopharmacological Interventions in Psychocardiology.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesDespite evidence for many potential risks, use of benzodiazepines (BZDs) among older adults is common. The authors evaluated the available evidence for BZD effectiveness and tolerability for use in older adults in three psychiatric conditions for which BZDs are commonly prescribed: insomnia, anxiety disorders, and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.
designElectronic databases, including PubMed/MEDLINE, were searched to identify articles that (1) included patients ≥50 years of age, (2) focused on patients diagnosed with insomnia, anxiety disorders, or behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, and (3) were either a randomized, placebo-controlled trial or a randomized trial comparing a BZD with either another psychotropic medication or psychotherapy.
resultsThirty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. Of the three clinical indications evaluated, treatment of insomnia had the greatest available evidence for use of BZDs among older adults, with 21 of 25 trials demonstrating improved sleep outcomes with use of BZDs. Only one trial was found to meet eligibility criteria for BZD use in anxiety disorders, demonstrating benefit over placebo. Five studies for use in behavioral disturbances in dementia were included, of which only one demonstrated improvement over placebo.
conclusionThis systematic review suggests that BZD prescribing to older adults is significantly in excess of what the available evidence suggests is appropriate. Future trials should focus on efforts to reduce both acute and chronic BZD use among older adults while improving access to effective non-pharmacologic treatment alternatives.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.