Regional Differences in Anxiolytic Prescribing in Light of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory

Anxiolytics such as benzodiazepines are widely used in the treatment of anxiety disorders, although they are no longer recommended as first-line therapy for these conditions due to increased risk of dependence, as well as cognitive adverse effects, especially among the elderly. High prescribing rates of anxiolytics may be indicative of higher prevalence of anxiety-related phenomena in a given society, either in a form of an anxiety disorder or as pressure on physicians to keep prescribing them, against current guidelines.

We inspected prescribing rates of anxiolytics in 21 European countries and compared them with six dimensions of Hofstede's cross-cultural framework, namely uncertainty avoidance (UAI), power distance (PD), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), long-term orientation (LTO) and indulgence (IND).

According to our findings, anxiolytic prescribing patterns in selected European countries correlate positively with Hofstede's dimensions of UAI and PD and negatively with IDV.

Differences in prescribing rates of anxiolytics and trends in their use may be affected by cross-cultural factors. More research is needed to shed light on these regional differences in anxiolytic prescribing.