ArticleBMC geriatrics2024
Prevalence, country-specific prescribing patterns and determinants of benzodiazepine use in community-residing older adults in 7 European countries.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Does the use of benzodiazepine influence the effectiveness of lifestyle intervention? Secondary analysis from the Sarcopenia and Physical fRailty iN older people strategies (SPRINTT) trial.Age and ageing · 2026Trial
- Benzodiazepine Prescription and Use in the Older Adults in Catalonia, Spain from 2018 to 2022: A Drug Utilization Study.Drugs & aging · 2026Article
- Prescription of Psychotropic Drugs for Chronic Insomnia in Primary Care.Journal of sleep research · 2026Observational
- Global Trends in Deprescribing Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonists in Older Adults: A Dual-Database Bibliometric and Visual Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Trajectories Associated With the Use and Deprescription of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs in a Network of Geriatric Outpatient Clinics.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2026Article
- Rational Use of Benzodiazepines in Modern Healthcare: Evidence-Based Strategies.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Pathways to chronic benzodiazepine use: a qualitative study of user and professional perspectives.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- De-implementing inappropriate benzodiazepine prescribing in primary care: an overview of systematic reviews informed by behavioral frameworks.Implementation science communications · 2026Review
- Anticholinergic burden in community-dwelling older adults: prevalence, associated factors, and agreement between measurement scales.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Role of gender, age and rurality in benzodiazepine consumption in Catalonia, 2018-2022: a retrospective longitudinal drug utilisation study.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Mapping care trajectories for hospital-initiated benzodiazepine deprescribing in older adults: a multicentre qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- ESCP best practice: development of the national methodology for the provision of clinical-pharmaceutical care and its implementation in the healthcare system of the Czech Republic.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2025Article
- Barriers to discontinuing benzodiazepine receptor agonists in older adults: a survey of older adults across Europe.Age and ageing · 2025Observational
- A hidden confounder for microbiome studies: medications used years before sample collection.mSystems · 2025Article
- Article
- Anticholinergic and Sedative Medication Burden in Croatian Older Adults: EuroAgeism Cohort Findings.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Barriers to and Enablers of Supporting Deprescribing Benzodiazepines in Older Adults: A Survey of European Nonphysician Healthcare Professionals.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2025Article
- Article
- Prevalence estimation of essential tremor in Hungary between 2010 and 2020 based on the National Health Insurance Fund Database.Scientific reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 13 institutions in 11 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe use of benzodiazepines (BZDs) in older population is often accompanied by drug-related complications. Inappropriate BZD use significantly alters older adults' clinical and functional status. This study compares the prevalence, prescribing patterns and factors associated with BZD use in community-dwelling older patients in 7 European countries.
methodsInternational, cross-sectional study was conducted in community-dwelling older adults (65 +) in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey, and Spain between Feb2019 and Mar2020. Structured and standardized questionnaire based on interRAI assessment scales was applied. Logistic regression was used to evaluate factors associated with BZD use.
resultsOut of 2,865 older patients (mean age 73.2 years ± 6.8, 61.2% women) 14.9% were BZD users. The highest prevalence of BZD use was identified in Croatia (35.5%), Spain (33.5%) and Serbia (31.3%). The most frequently prescribed BZDs were diazepam (27.9% of 426 BZD users), alprazolam (23.7%), bromazepam (22.8%) and lorazepam (16.7%). Independent factors associated with BZD use were female gender (OR 1.58, 95%CI 1.19-2.10), hyperpolypharmacy (OR 1.97, 95%CI 1.22-3.16), anxiety (OR 4.26, 95%CI 2.86-6.38), sleeping problems (OR 4.47, 95%CI 3.38-5.92), depression (OR 1.95, 95%CI 1.29-2.95), repetitive anxious complaints (OR 1.77, 95%CI 1.29-2.42), problems with syncope (OR 1.78, 95%CI 1.03-3.06), and loss of appetite (OR 0.60, 95%CI 0.38-0.94). In comparison to Croatia, residing in other countries was associated with lower odds of BZD use (ORs varied from 0.49 (95%CI 0.32-0.75) in Spain to 0.01 (95%CI 0.00-0.03) in Turkey), excluding Serbia (OR 1.11, 95%CI 0.79-1.56).
conclusionsDespite well-known negative effects, BZDs are still frequently prescribed in older outpatient population in European countries. Principles of safer geriatric prescribing and effective deprescribing strategies should be individually applied in older BZD users.
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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.