Benzodiazepine use in anxiety disordered patients with and without a history of alcoholism

People with a history of alcohol use disorders are thought to be at risk for misusing prescribed benzodiazepines. We examine the use of prescribed benzodiazepines in anxiety disordered subjects with and without a history of alcohol dependence or abuse.

A group of 343 subjects in the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Disorders Research Program (HARP) who were taking benzodiazepines at the time of entry into a prospective study of anxiety disorders serve as the study group. Subjects with (N=99) and without (N=244) a history of alcohol use or dependence (DSM- III-R) are examined for their reported total daily dose, p.r.n. use, or continued use of benzodiazepines.

There is no significant difference in maximum daily dose or continued use of benzodiazepines over 12 months of follow- up. There is a clinically small but statistically significant difference in median daily dose during the second but not the first 6 months of follow-up for the alcohol history positive versus alcohol history negative groups. Additionally, there was significantly less reported use of p.r.n. benzodiazepines in the alcohol history positive versus alcohol history negative subjects during the second 6 months, but not the first 6 months, of follow-up.

The presence or absence of a history of alcohol use disorders is not a strong predictor of the use of benzodiazepines in subjects with anxiety disorders over 12 months of prospective follow-up.