Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32616945›Full record

ArticleThe Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy

Point Prevalence Survey of Benzodiazepine and Sedative-Hypnotic Drug Use in Hospitalized Adult Patients.

Heather L Neville, Mia Losier, Jennifer Pitman, Melissa Gehrig, Jennifer E Isenor, Laura V Minard, Ellen Penny, Susan K Bowles

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC
In one paragraph

Article in The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Application of the patient-reported and nurse-rated Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire in neurorehabilitation inpatients.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Heather L Neville, BScPharm, MSc, FCSHP, is with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Mia Losier, BScPharm, ACPR, was, at the time of this study, with the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is now with Horizon Health Network, Saint John, New Brunswick.
Jennifer Pitman, BScMedSc, BScPharm, ACPR, was, at the time of this study, with the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is now with the Vancouver Island Health Authority, Victoria, British Columbia.
Melissa Gehrig, BSc(Hons), BScPharm, MSc, is with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Jennifer E Isenor, BScPharm, PharmD, is with the College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Laura V Minard, BSc, BScPharm, ACPR, PhD, is with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Ellen Penny, BScPharm, PharmD, BCGP, is with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Susan K Bowles, BScPhm, MSc, PharmD, FCSHP, is with the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Health Authority · CADalhousie University · CAHorizon Health Network · CAIsland Health · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBenzodiazepines and sedative-hypnotic drugs (BZD/SHDs), such as zopiclone and the antidepressant trazodone, pose risks such as falls, fractures, and confusion, especially for older adults. Use of these drugs in the acute care setting is poorly understood.

objectivesTo determine the point prevalence and characteristics of use of BZD/SHDs in hospitals in Nova Scotia, Canada.

methodsA point prevalence survey was conducted for adults admitted to all hospitals with at least 30 acute care beds between May and August 2016. Drugs administered intravenously, patients in long-term care, and patients receiving mental health services, addiction treatment, or critical care were excluded. The proportion of included patients who had received a BZD/SHD within the 24 h before the start of the survey was determined. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed.

resultsOverall BZD/SHD prevalence was 34.6% (487/1409) across the 16 eligible hospitals. The average age was 70.3 years, and 150 (30.8%) of the patients were 80 years or older. Among the 585 prescriptions for these patients, commonly used drugs were zopiclone (32.0%), lorazepam (21.9%), and trazodone (21.9%). The most common indications for use were bedtime/daytime sedation (60.0%) and anxiety (12.5%). More than half of the prescriptions (55.7%) had been initiated at home, 37.6% were started in hospital, and the place of initiation was unknown for 6.7%. Benzodiazepines were prescribed more frequently to patients under 65 years than those 80 years or older (41.3% versus 22.2%,

conclusionsBZD/SHDs were frequently used by hospitalized adult patients in Nova Scotia. Trazodone appears to have been substituted for benzodiazepines in the oldest age group. Pharmacists should direct their efforts toward preventing inappropriate initiation of BZD/SHDs in hospital, particularly for elderly patients.

Indexed as

benzodiazepinesgeriatricshospitalsedative-hypnotic drugssleeptrazodone

Identifiers

PMID32616945
PMCPMC7308153
OpenAlexW3039877062

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.