Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in Catalonia
Introduction Long-term use of benzodiazepines (BZD) triggers health problems. Although Spain leads European use of BZD, the number of long-term users (LTUs) remains unknown.Objective The aim of the study is to estimate the proportion of primary care (PC) patients who initiate a BDZ prescription that...
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| Format: | Article |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Family Medicine and Community Health |
| Online Access: | https://fmch.bmj.com/content/13/3/e003233.full |
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| author | Marc Saez Alexandra Lelia Dima Blanca Lumbreras Ignacio Aznar-Lou María Teresa Peñarrubia-María Antoni Serrano-Blanco Lucy Anne Parker Marta Puig-García Marina Fuente-Moreno Elsa Lopez-Pintor Joan Domenech Abella Adolfo Figueiras Guzmán Elisa Chilet Rosell |
| author_facet | Marc Saez Alexandra Lelia Dima Blanca Lumbreras Ignacio Aznar-Lou María Teresa Peñarrubia-María Antoni Serrano-Blanco Lucy Anne Parker Marta Puig-García Marina Fuente-Moreno Elsa Lopez-Pintor Joan Domenech Abella Adolfo Figueiras Guzmán Elisa Chilet Rosell |
| author_sort | Marc Saez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction Long-term use of benzodiazepines (BZD) triggers health problems. Although Spain leads European use of BZD, the number of long-term users (LTUs) remains unknown.Objective The aim of the study is to estimate the proportion of primary care (PC) patients who initiate a BDZ prescription that subsequently become LTU and to identify its associated factors.Design Retrospective real-world data cohort.Setting and participant It included the population over 15 years with a new prescription of BZD in PC in Catalonia. Users were considered LTU if they had been dispensed at least three prescriptions within 3 months. Sociodemographic characteristics of patients and prescribers, pathologies, previous BZD use, number and type of visits, and prescription quality standard were considered. We estimated the proportion of LTU among patients with a new prescription, stratified by age and sex, and estimated risk factors by multivariate generalised linear models.Result 100 638 users with a new BZD prescription were included. 27.1% were LTU at 3 months and 14.5% at 6 months. LTU increases with age and is higher in women. Predictors of LTU are Spanish nationality, living in rural areas, having a mental illness, having used BZD, having virtual visits or not meeting pharmacy-therapeutic quality standards.Conclusion The number of patients who develop LTU is high, especially in the elderly. Exploring the causes of this phenomenon could contribute to the development of future interventions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9ac2a8276ea744eaabcc7f812640ad2f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2305-6983 2009-8774 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Family Medicine and Community Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-9ac2a8276ea744eaabcc7f812640ad2f2025-08-20T03:32:00ZengBMJ Publishing GroupFamily Medicine and Community Health2305-69832009-87742025-07-0113310.1136/fmch-2024-003233Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in CataloniaMarc Saez0Alexandra Lelia Dima1Blanca Lumbreras2Ignacio Aznar-Lou3María Teresa Peñarrubia-María4Antoni Serrano-Blanco5Lucy Anne Parker6Marta Puig-García7Marina Fuente-Moreno8Elsa Lopez-Pintor9Joan Domenech Abella10Adolfo Figueiras Guzmán11Elisa Chilet Rosell12Grupo de Investigación en Estadística, Econometría y Salud (GRECS), Univesitat de Girona, Girona, SpainConsorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainDepartamento de Salud Pública, Historia de la Ciencia y Ginecología, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alicante, SpainConsorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainEAP Bartomeu Fabrés Anglada, Institut Català de la Salut, IDIAP Jordi Gol, Barcelona, Catalunya, SpainConsorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainDepartamento de Salud Pública, Historia de la Ciencia y Ginecología, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alicante, SpainDepartamento de Salud Pública, Historia de la Ciencia y Ginecología, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alicante, SpainGrupo de Investigación en Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias en Atención Primaria y Salud Mental (PRISMA), Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, SpainConsorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, SpainInstitut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, SpainDepartamento de Salud Pública, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, SpainDepartamento de Salud Pública, Historia de la Ciencia y Ginecología, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alicante, SpainIntroduction Long-term use of benzodiazepines (BZD) triggers health problems. Although Spain leads European use of BZD, the number of long-term users (LTUs) remains unknown.Objective The aim of the study is to estimate the proportion of primary care (PC) patients who initiate a BDZ prescription that subsequently become LTU and to identify its associated factors.Design Retrospective real-world data cohort.Setting and participant It included the population over 15 years with a new prescription of BZD in PC in Catalonia. Users were considered LTU if they had been dispensed at least three prescriptions within 3 months. Sociodemographic characteristics of patients and prescribers, pathologies, previous BZD use, number and type of visits, and prescription quality standard were considered. We estimated the proportion of LTU among patients with a new prescription, stratified by age and sex, and estimated risk factors by multivariate generalised linear models.Result 100 638 users with a new BZD prescription were included. 27.1% were LTU at 3 months and 14.5% at 6 months. LTU increases with age and is higher in women. Predictors of LTU are Spanish nationality, living in rural areas, having a mental illness, having used BZD, having virtual visits or not meeting pharmacy-therapeutic quality standards.Conclusion The number of patients who develop LTU is high, especially in the elderly. Exploring the causes of this phenomenon could contribute to the development of future interventions.https://fmch.bmj.com/content/13/3/e003233.full |
| spellingShingle | Marc Saez Alexandra Lelia Dima Blanca Lumbreras Ignacio Aznar-Lou María Teresa Peñarrubia-María Antoni Serrano-Blanco Lucy Anne Parker Marta Puig-García Marina Fuente-Moreno Elsa Lopez-Pintor Joan Domenech Abella Adolfo Figueiras Guzmán Elisa Chilet Rosell Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in Catalonia Family Medicine and Community Health |
| title | Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in Catalonia |
| title_full | Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in Catalonia |
| title_fullStr | Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in Catalonia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in Catalonia |
| title_short | Challenge of long-term benzodiazepine use in primary care: insights from a real-world cohort study in Catalonia |
| title_sort | challenge of long term benzodiazepine use in primary care insights from a real world cohort study in catalonia |
| url | https://fmch.bmj.com/content/13/3/e003233.full |
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