ArticleClinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology2026
A 21-year Comparative Study of Prescriptions of Benzodiazepines and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Related Drugs in a Japanese University Hospital.
Article in Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: Benzodiazepines (BZPs) continue to be widely prescribed in non-psychiatric settings, despite clinical guideline recommendations favouring selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) for the treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders. Long-term, hospital-based evidence comparing these prescribing patterns in Japan remains limited. The study aim was to evaluate long-term trends in BZP prescribing relative to SSRI/SNRI use and to identify factors associated with anxiolytic BZP versus SSRI/SNRI prescriptions. Methods: We conducted a database study of all 16,886,524 prescriptions issued between April 2001 and March 2022 at a tertiary university hospital in Japan. Anxiolytic and hypnotic BZPs, SSRIs, SNRIs, and related antidepressants were identified. The ratio of anxiolytic BZP to SSRI/SNRI prescriptions (B/S ratio) was calculated according to department group. Factors associated with anxiolytic BZP versus SSRI/SNRI prescribing were examined using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Anxiolytic BZP prescriptions accounted for 2.3% of all prescriptions and declined over time, whereas SSRI/SNRI prescriptions (1.4%) remained largely stable throughout the study period. The B/S ratio was consistently higher in internal medicine than in psychiatry, although a gradual reduction was observed over time. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that anxiolytic BZP prescribing was independently associated with the internal medicine department, female sex, outpatient status, younger age, and earlier calendar years. Conclusion: Despite a temporal decline, anxiolytic BZPs continue to be preferentially prescribed over SSRIs/SNRIs in non-psychiatric settings. These findings underscore persistent gaps between evidence-based recommendations and clinical practice and highlight the need for targeted educational and policy interventions to optimise psychotropic prescribing.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.