Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The British Journal of General Practice logoLink to The British Journal of General Practice
. 2002 Oct;52(483):805–808.

Differences in health status between long-term and short-term benzodiazepine users.

S M Zandstra 1, J W Furer 1, E H van de Lisdonk 1, J H J Bor 1, F G Zitman 1, C van Weel 1
PMCID: PMC1316082  PMID: 12392119

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Despite generally accepted advice to keep treatment short, benzodiazepines are often prescibed for more than six months. Prevention of long-term benzodiazepine use could be facilitated by the utilisation of risk indicators for long-term use. However, the characteristics of long-term benzodiazepine users described in the literature are based on studies in which long-term users were compared with non-users. Thus these characteristics may be imprecise. AIM: To study the characteristics of long-term benzodiazepine users by comparing their demographic data and health status (mental and physical) with those of short-term users. DESIGN OF STUDY: Cross-sectional comparison of short-term and long-term benzodiazepine users. SETTING: Patients from 32 GP practices of the Nijmegen Health Area, The Netherlands. METHOD: The characteristics of 164 short-term and 158 long-term benzodiazepine users in general practice were compared, using interview data and morbidity referral and prescription data from GP records. RESULTS: Long-term benzodiazepine users were (a) older, (b) had a more severe history of mental health problems for which they had received more serious treatment, (c) used more psychotropic drugs, (d) had a higher hospital specialist consultation frequency, (e) had more diagnoses of the following: diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension a serious skin disorder, and (f) reported a lower perceived general health status. There were no sex differences. CONCLUSION: Specific risk characteristics of long-term benzodiazepine users can be used to develop a risk profile for the management of benzodiazepines in general practice. We believe that (somatic) secondary care also contributes to benzodiazepine use. It may be worthwhile to coordinate care for benzodiazepine users between GPs and hospital specialists.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (73.2 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ashton H., Golding J. F. Tranquillisers: prevalence, predictors and possible consequences. Data from a large United Kingdom survey. Br J Addict. 1989 May;84(5):541–546. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1989.tb00611.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barbui C., Gregis M., Zappa M. A cross-sectional audit of benzodiazepine use among general practice patients. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1998 Feb;97(2):153–156. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1998.tb09979.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Catalan J., Gath D. H., Bond A., Edmonds G., Martin P., Ennis J. General practice patients on long-term psychotropic drugs. A controlled investigation. Br J Psychiatry. 1988 Mar;152:399–405. doi: 10.1192/bjp.152.3.399. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gabe J. Promoting benzodiazepine withdrawal. Addiction. 1994 Nov;89(11):1497–1504. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1994.tb03749.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gené-Badia J., Blay-Pueyo C., Soler-Vila M. Risk factors in the use of benzodiazepines. Fam Pract. 1988 Dec;5(4):283–288. doi: 10.1093/fampra/5.4.283. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Herings R. M., Stricker B. H., de Boer A., Bakker A., Sturmans F. Benzodiazepines and the risk of falling leading to femur fractures. Dosage more important than elimination half-life. Arch Intern Med. 1995 Sep 11;155(16):1801–1807. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Isacson D. Long-term benzodiazepine use: factors of importance and the development of individual use patterns over time--a 13-year follow-up in a Swedish community. Soc Sci Med. 1997 Jun;44(12):1871–1880. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(96)00296-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jorm A. F., Duncan-Jones P. Neurotic symptoms and subjective well-being in a community sample: different sides of the same coin? Psychol Med. 1990 Aug;20(3):647–654. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700017165. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lagro-Janssen A. L., Liberton I. J. Profielen van regelmatige gebruikers van benzodiazepinen in een huisartspraktijk. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 1993 Sep 25;137(39):1969–1973. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Magrini N., Vaccheri A., Parma E., D'Alessandro R., Bottoni A., Occhionero M., Montanaro N. Use of benzodiazepines in the Italian general population: prevalence, pattern of use and risk factors for use. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1996;50(1-2):19–25. doi: 10.1007/s002280050063. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mellinger G. D., Balter M. B., Manheimer D. I., Cisin I. H., Parry H. J. Psychic distress, life crisis, and use of psychotherapeutic medications: national household survey data. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1978 Sep;35(9):1045–1052. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1978.01770330019001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Ohayon M. M., Caulet M., Priest R. G., Guilleminault C. Psychotropic medication consumption patterns in the UK general population. J Clin Epidemiol. 1998 Mar;51(3):273–283. doi: 10.1016/s0895-4356(97)00238-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Power K. G., Jerrom D. W., Simpson R. J., Mitchell M. Controlled study of withdrawal symptoms and rebound anxiety after six week course of diazepam for generalised anxiety. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985 Apr 27;290(6477):1246–1248. doi: 10.1136/bmj.290.6477.1246. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rickels K., Schweizer E., Case W. G., Greenblatt D. J. Long-term therapeutic use of benzodiazepines. I. Effects of abrupt discontinuation. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1990 Oct;47(10):899–907. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1990.01810220015002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rodrigo E. K., King M. B., Williams P. Health of long term benzodiazepine users. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1988 Feb 27;296(6622):603–606. doi: 10.1136/bmj.296.6622.603. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Salinsky J. V., Doré C. J. Characteristics of long term benzodiazepine users in general practice. J R Coll Gen Pract. 1987 May;37(298):202–204. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Salzman C. The APA Task Force report on benzodiazepine dependence, toxicity, and abuse. Am J Psychiatry. 1991 Feb;148(2):151–152. doi: 10.1176/ajp.148.2.151. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Simpson R. J., Power K. G., Wallace L. A., Butcher M. H., Swanson V., Simpson E. C. Controlled comparison of the characteristics of long-term benzodiazepine users in general practice. Br J Gen Pract. 1990 Jan;40(330):22–26. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tata P. R., Rollings J., Collins M., Pickering A., Jacobson R. R. Lack of cognitive recovery following withdrawal from long-term benzodiazepine use. Psychol Med. 1994 Feb;24(1):203–213. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700026969. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Uhlenhuth E. H., Balter M. B., Lipman R. S. Minor tranquilizers: clinical correlates of use in an urban population. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1978 May;35(5):650–655. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1978.01770290132013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wells K. B., Kamberg C., Brook R., Camp P., Rogers W. Health status, sociodemographic factors, and the use of prescribed psychotropic drugs. Med Care. 1985 Nov;23(11):1295–1306. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198511000-00008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wiley T. L., Poole C. P., Gookin K. S., Wiser W. L., Morrison J. C. Prostaglandin E2 induction of abortion and fetal demise. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 1989 Feb;28(2):171–175. doi: 10.1016/0020-7292(89)90478-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Zandstra S. M., Furer J. W., van de Lisdonk E. H., van't Hof M., Bor J. H. J., van Weel C., Zitman F. G. Different study criteria affect the prevalence of benzodiazepine use. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2002 Mar;37(3):139–144. doi: 10.1007/s001270200006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. van Hulten R., Leufkens H. G., Bakker A. Usage patterns of benzodiazepines in a Dutch community: a 10-year follow-up. Pharm World Sci. 1998 Apr;20(2):78–82. doi: 10.1023/a:1008636707219. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of General Practice are provided here courtesy of Royal College of General Practitioners

RESOURCES