Study, June/16: "Towards safer prescribing" of benzos and Z-drugs in the UK

The full title of this UK study is "A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis of Patients' Experiences and Perceptions of Seeking and Using Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs: Towards Safer Prescribing".

"BACKGROUND: Benzodiazepines and Z-drugs are used to treat complaints like insomnia, anxiety and pain. These drugs are recommended for short-term use only, but many studies report long-term use, particularly in older people."

Personally, I'd like to see a companion piece that focuses on the doctors' perceptions of prescribing benzodiazepines and z-drugs, as well as their knowledge of how these medications can affect people over time. This particular paper looks only at the patients, and in so doing, misses half of the equation when it comes to long-term use.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27282559

Hey Lap, I happened to glance over to "Similar Articles" and these caught my eye:

General practitioners' experiences and perceptions of benzodiazepine prescribing: systematic review and meta-synthesis. 

"BACKGROUND:  Benzodiazepines are often prescribed long-term inappropriately. We aimed to systematically review and meta-synthesise qualitative studies exploring clinicians' experiences and perceptions of benzodiazepine prescribing to build an explanatory model of processes underlying current prescribing practices."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24330388

Benzodiazepine prescribing behaviour and attitudes: a survey among general practitioners practicing in northern Thailand.

"BACKGROUND:  Over-prescribing of benzodiazepines appears common in many countries, a better understanding of prescribing practices and attitudes may help develop strategies to reduce prescribing. This study aimed to evaluate benzodiazepine prescribing behaviour and attitudes in general practitioners practising in Chiang Mai and Lampoon, Thailand."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15975145

It seems these reviews miss the important issues of benzo injuries and rapid

physical dependence; whether that miss is deliberate, negligent, or uninformed.

abcd, thanks for posting those two articles! The UK article is from 2013, so what would make sense would be a follow-up article to show whether any of the suggestions from the conclusion were actually implemented over the past few years.

In reading all of these abstracts over the past couple of years, one over-arching question has remained for me: What will it take for these studies to be acted upon? It's good to do a study. It's important to know that benzodiazepines are problematic over the long term. Okay, so now that they know, why can't they TAKE ACTION??!!