ArticleJournal of Alzheimer's disease reports2021
Use of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: Prevalence and Appropriateness.
Article in Journal of Alzheimer's disease reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of Benzodiazepine, Z-Drug and Melatonin Use in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Australasian journal on ageing · 2026Pooled it
- Deprescribing Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonists in Older Adults and People With Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of specialty dementia care units in long-term care settings.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Behavioral symptoms of dementia and psychotropic use during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Article
- Benzodiazepine-receptor agonist prescription in a population of hospitalised patients in four psychogeriatric units in Switzerland.Journal of sleep research · 2025Article
- Use of potentially inappropriate psychotropic medicines among older adults in 23 residential aged care facilities in Australia: a retrospective cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Educational interventions to improve detection and management of cognitive decline in primary care-An Italian multicenter pragmatic study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGuidelines worldwide recommend restricted prescription of benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs), i.e., benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, for the treatment of dementia-associated behavioral and psychological symptoms and insomnia.
objectiveTo assess the prevalence and appropriateness of BZRA use among nursing home residents with dementia.
methodsThis is a
resultsThe prevalence of BZRA use is 39.2% (95% CI: 36.3%-42.0%): continuous 22.9%; only as-needed 16.3%. Combinations of preferred BZRAs and appropriate indications occur in 19.0% of continuous anxiolytic prescriptions and 44.8% of hypnotic prescriptions. Frequently registered inappropriate indications are aggression/agitation for anxiolytics (continuous: 75.7%; as-needed: 75.2%) and nighttime agitation for hypnotics (continuous: 40.3%; as-needed: 26.7%). None of the continuous prescriptions with appropriate indications were appropriate for all other items. For most of the prescriptions, duration and time to evaluation exceeded 4 weeks.
conclusionBZRA use in nursing home residents with dementia is highly frequent. A large proportion of prescriptions do not follow the guidelines with regard to indication, exceed the recommended duration and are not evaluated in a timely manner. The discrepancy between evidence-based guidelines and daily practice calls for an exploration of factors maintaining inappropriate use.
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