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Sleep disturbance is a major symptom of many psychiatric illnesses and benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BzRAs) are liberally used for treatment, supported by randomized, controlled studies showing that BzRAs “work” better in selected patients than placebo. In a large, real-world sample of 193 patients with insomnia, most with psychiatric (50%) and medical (74%) comorbidities, researchers with industry funding have now examined how well BzRAs actually work for insomnia symptoms, as measured on a standard scale with patients retrospectively rating sleep initiation and maintenance problems.
Most patients were taking zolpidem (71%; half were taking 10-mg doses); temazepam (11%) and eszopiclone (7%) were the next most frequently used BzRAs. Abou…