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Published on: February 17, 2023
Pharmacological Management of Acute and Chronic Insomnia: A Cross-Sectional Study
Luis Fernando Valladales-Restrepo, Nicolás Sánchez-Ramírez1, Santiago Ospina-Sánchez2
1Grupo de Investigación en Farmacoepidemiología y Farmacovigilancia, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira-Audifarma S.A., Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia.
Objective:
Insomnia is a frequent and difficult disease to treat. The objective was to determine the pharmacological management of a group of patients diagnosed with acute and chronic insomnia.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional study that identified patterns of prescription of drugs for outpatient use in patients with insomnia from a population database of 8.5 million individuals in the Health System of Colombia. Sociodemographic and pharmacological variables were considered.
Results:
A total of 5825 patients with insomnia were identified. Acute insomnia was the most frequent complaint (85.2%). A total of 76.9% received pharmacological treatment, mainly through off-label drugs (70.7%), such as trazodone (20.2%), quetiapine (12.3%), and clonazepam (11.1%). The approved drugs were used in 9.9% of the patients, especially eszopiclone (4.7%) and zopiclone (3.6%). Benzodiazepines and Z compounds predominated in the elderly and individuals with chronic insomnia.
Conclusions:
The pharmacological treatment of insomnia in this group of patients is heterogeneous, and medications not approved for this indication are very frequently used.
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