What is the point of guidelines? Benzodiazepine and z-hypnotic use by an elderly population
Sleep Medicine, 08/01/2012
Clinical Article
Neutel CI et al. – Clearly, inappropriate use of benzodiazepines or z–hypnotics (BZD–Z) is widespread. An active response to such noncompliance with existing guidelines could consist of either stricter enforcement of guidelines or revamping guidelines through a fresh look at risks, benefits, and treatment practices. The implications of both options are discussed in some detail.
Methods- The study population consisted of people aged 70–89 who filled at least two prescriptions in 2008 within one of three subgroups: anxiolytic BZD, hypnotics BZD, or z–hypnotics.
- Inappropriate use criteria used for this study were (1) any hypnotic BZD, (2) exceeding 300DDD, or a dosage exceeding 9DDD/week, or anxiolytic BZD and z–hypnotics use exceeding 30weeks.
- 118,526 persons, or 25% of elderly Norwegians, filled at least two prescriptions for one of these medication subgroups.
- Inappropriate use was found for 25% of anxiolytic BZD users, 100% of hypnotic BZD users, and 65% of z–hypnotic users.
- Altogether 57,276 elderly Norwegians, or 12.3% of the elderly source population, used BZD–Z inappropriately as defined in this study.
