Trial reportBMC family practice2021
Reducing prescribing of benzodiazepines in older adults: a comparison of four physician-focused interventions by a medical regulatory authority.
Trial report in BMC family practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 4 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative effectiveness of interventions to facilitate deprescription of benzodiazepines and other sedative hypnotics: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Pooled it
- Audit and feedback: effects on professional practice.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Pharmacists' contribution to benzodiazepine deprescribing in older outpatients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Pooled it
- Outcomes in deprescribing implementation trials and compliance with expert recommendations: a systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2023Pooled it
- Substitution Patterns After Discontinuation of CNS-Active Medications in Older Adults in Primary Care.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Article
- Predictors of high-performing family medicine clinics: Prospective cohort study in Alberta.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026Article
- Supporting depression care: antidepressant prescribing patterns among adults in Alberta, Canada.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Role of gender, age and rurality in benzodiazepine consumption in Catalonia, 2018-2022: a retrospective longitudinal drug utilisation study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Reporting of costs and economic impacts in randomized trials of de-implementation interventions for low-value care: a systematic scoping review.Implementation science : IS · 2023Article
- Effects of an academic detailing service on benzodiazepine prescribing patterns in primary care.PloS one · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe inappropriate and/or high prescribing of benzodiazepine and 'Z' drugs (BDZ +) is a major health concern. The purpose of this study was to determine whether physician or pharmacist led interventions or a simple letter or a personalized prescribing report from a medical regulatory authority (MRA) was the most effective intervention for reducing BDZ + prescribing by physicians to patients 65 years of age or older.
methodsThis was a four-armed, one year, blinded, randomized, parallel-group, investigational trial in Alberta, Canada. Participants were fully licensed physicians (n = 272) who had prescribed 4 times the defined daily dose (4 + DDD) or more of any BDZ + to an older patient at least once in the 3
resultsAll groups experienced a significant fall in the total number of older patients receiving 4 + DDD of BDZ + by about 50% (range 43-54%) per physician at one year, and a fall in the mean dose of BDZ + prescribed of about 13% (range 10-16%). However, there was no significant difference between each group.
conclusionsA personalized prescribing report alone sent from the MRA appears to be an effective intervention for reducing very high levels of BDZ + prescribing in older patients. Additional interventions by a pharmacist or physician did not result in additional benefit. The intervention needs to be tested further on a more general population of physicians, prescribing less extreme doses of BDZ + and that looks at more clinical and healthcare utilization outcomes.
Indexed as
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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.