Loading...
Practice guidelines on benzodiazepine prescriptions have been evolving, but has benzodiazepine use changed? To address this question, investigators used two U.S. databases to calculate rates of benzodiazepine prescriptions to adults during 2008.
The percentage of the population receiving any benzodiazepine ranged from 2.6% in the youngest group (age range, 18–26) to 8.7% in the oldest group (age range, 65–80). Of the people who filled at least one benzodiazepine prescriptions (estimated at 75 million nationally), 15% of the youngest age group and 31% of the oldest group continued the medication for at least 120 days, and 24% of users overall took long-acting benzodiazepines. Nonpsychiatric providers wrote most benzodiazepine prescriptions — …