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Published on: November 21, 2013
Comparing patterns of long-term benzodiazepine use between a Dutch and a Swedish community
Rolf van Hulten1, Dag Isacson, Albert Bakker
1Department of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacotherapy, Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Background:
There is much concern about the widespread long-term use of benzodiazepines. Utilisation data can give a foundation for interventions for appropriate use.
Objective:
To compare long-term usage patterns of benzodiazepines in a Dutch and a Swedish community in different periods.
Methods:
Eight-year follow-up patterns of use were investigated with respect to the characteristics of those who continued use over the whole follow-up period. In the Dutch community of 13,500, the data of a cohort of 1358 benzodiazepine users were analysed during the years 1984-1991; in the Swedish community of 20,000 people, a cohort of 2038 benzodiazepine users was followed from 1976.
Results:
At the end of the follow-up period, 32.9% of the Dutch cohort and 33% of the Swedish cohort had continued use of benzodiazepines. The two overall survival curves showed similar patterns. Stratification for age, gender, previous versus initial use and heavy versus non-heavy use showed comparable proportions of patients continuing benzodiazepine use over time.
Conclusion:
The parallels in the results of two cohorts in different countries and different periods are striking and give support to the idea to stimulate interventions to reduce long-term benzodiazepine use.
