Related Experiment Videos
Benzodiazepine prescribing : lessons from interprofessional dialogue.
Caroline Johnson1, Bev Baxter, Rodger Brough
1Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Australia. c.johnson@unimelb.edu.au
Australian Family Physician
|March 30, 2007
Summary
General practitioners (GPs) face challenges with prescribing benzodiazepines. An interprofessional dialogue with psychiatrists and pharmacists highlighted issues and potential improvements for quality use of these medicines.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- General Practice
- Psychiatry
Background:
- General practitioners (GPs) encounter numerous challenges in prescribing benzodiazepines.
- In 2005, a meeting occurred between GP members of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Victoria Faculty Drug and Alcohol Sub-Committee and GP-Psychiatry Liaison Sub-Committee, alongside representatives from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and the Pharmacy Guild.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss challenges and perspectives related to benzodiazepine prescribing in general practice.
- To foster interprofessional dialogue between GPs, psychiatrists, and pharmacists regarding current prescribing practices.
Main Methods:
- An informal interprofessional dialogue was conducted.
- Discussions focused on the differing perspectives of GPs, psychiatrists, and pharmacists on benzodiazepine prescribing.
Main Results:
- The dialogue provided a platform for GPs, psychiatrists, and pharmacists to debate current benzodiazepine prescribing practices.
- Different professional viewpoints on the challenges associated with benzodiazepine prescribing were shared.
Conclusions:
- While a small group discussion has limitations, it offers a valuable forum for debating benzodiazepine prescribing.
- Such dialogues have the potential to enhance the quality use of medicines, specifically concerning benzodiazepine prescribing.
Related Concept Videos
01:19Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines have both sedative and hypnotic properties. They include compounds such as diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax). Structurally, their cores are similar, consisting of the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring, but they share a common mechanism of action in the central nervous system (CNS).
Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. They bind to the GABAA receptor, increasing its affinity for GABA, which opens chloride...
Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. They bind to the GABAA receptor, increasing its affinity for GABA, which opens chloride...
01:29Anxiolytic Drugs: Benzodiazepines and Buspirone
Benzodiazepines are a class of anxiolytic drugs known for their rapid efficacy and high therapeutic-to-lethal dose ratio, but with a potential risk of drug dependence. These drugs are lipophilic, allowing for rapid absorption after oral administration, eventually reaching the central nervous system (CNS). Once in the CNS, benzodiazepines bind to the allosteric site of the GABAA receptor. This binding enhances the inhibitory effects of the neurotransmitter GABA. By doing so, they prevent...
01:14CNS Depressants: Barbiturates and Benzodiazepines
CNS depressants include drugs from the category of barbiturates and benzodiazepines. They are valuable medications for managing anxiety disorders and insomnia. Barbiturates, once used to induce and maintain sleep, have been replaced mainly by benzodiazepines due to barbiturate's toxicity, tolerance, and overdose risks. They interact with GABAA receptors, leading to sedation at low doses and potentially coma and death at higher doses. Phenobarbital, a long-acting barbiturate, possesses...
01:15Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients
Elderly individuals encompass a diverse population with varying degrees of age-related physiological changes. Defining the elderly presents challenges, as the geriatric population is often arbitrarily categorized as individuals older than 65. However, many individuals in this group lead active and healthy lives, with an increasing number surpassing 85 years and falling into the older elderly category. Physiological changes associated with aging impact performance capacity and homeostatic...
01:23Sedatives and Hypnotics: Overview
Sedatives are drugs that alleviate anxiety, while hypnotics induce sleep. Both classes of medication suppress neuronal activity, leading to a calming effect for sedatives and facilitating sleep for hypnotics.
Sedative-hypnotics are categorized into barbiturates, benzodiazepines (BZDs), and non-benzodiazepines or Z-drugs. These drugs work by suppressing central nervous system activity, and this suppression is dose-dependent. Older sedative medications, like barbiturates, follow a linear curve in...
Sedative-hypnotics are categorized into barbiturates, benzodiazepines (BZDs), and non-benzodiazepines or Z-drugs. These drugs work by suppressing central nervous system activity, and this suppression is dose-dependent. Older sedative medications, like barbiturates, follow a linear curve in...
01:27Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
Age-related pharmacokinetic changes are extensively documented, but understanding age-related pharmacodynamic alterations is relatively limited. This knowledge gap can be partly attributed to the complexity of developing appropriate measures of drug responses compared to bioanalytical methods for determining drug concentrations.Most information regarding age-related differences in human pharmacodynamics originates from cross-sectional studies. However, these studies assume that observed mean...