caa a22 4500 477057497 CHVBK 20180405111350.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170330e19960401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s002280050063 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s002280050063 Use of benzodiazepines in the Italian general population: prevalence, pattern of use and risk factors for use [Elektronische Daten] [N. Magrini, A. Vaccheri, E. Parma, R. D'Alessandro, A. Bottoni, M. Occhionero, N. Montanaro] This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and profile of use of benzodiazepines in the Italian population and risk factors for use. Between November 1992 and February 1993, 62 general practitioners submitted a validated self-administered questionnaire on health status and drug use to a randomised sample of 3100 subjects (≥ 18 years of age, stratified by sex and age), of whom 2803 responded (response rate 90.4%). Main outcome measures were point estimate (past-week) of all the drugs taken by each individual, dosage and length of use and source of the prescription. The overall past-week prevalence of use of benzodiazepines was 8.6% (5.0% males and 11.8% females). In the elderly (≥ 65 years) 18.8% reported current use (9.0% males and 24.7% females). Fifty-six per cent of the persons exposed to a benzodiazepine were chronic users (daily, for more than 6 months), and 70.1% in subjects ≥ 65 years. The average daily dose taken was relatively low: 61% of short-term users and 51% of chronic users used less than half a defined daily dose (DDD). Female sex, older age, unemployment and retirement were independently associated with the use of benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepine use in Italy appeared to be relatively high (about 9% of subjects reported current use 57% of whom were chronic users). Women were prescribed a benzodiazepine twice as often as men and one out of four elderly women was on treatment. Although the average dosage used was rather low, the high prevalence and the elevated proportion of chronic users should encourage drug information campaigns and educational interventions to promote a more conservative use of these drugs especially in the elderly. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1996 Key words Benzodiazepines nationallicence Drug utilisation nationallicence pharmacoepidemiology nationallicence risk factors nationallicence socioeconomic factors nationallicence questionnaires nationallicence family practice nationallicence Magrini N. Interuniversity Research Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, IT aut Vaccheri A. Interuniversity Research Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, IT aut Parma E. Centre for Research in General Practice, Monza, Italy, IT aut D'Alessandro R. Unit of Neuroepidemiology, Institute of Neurology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, IT aut Bottoni A. Department of International Clinical Research and Drug Safety, Roche Ltd., Milan, Italy, IT aut Occhionero M. Interuniversity Research Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, IT aut Montanaro N. Interuniversity Research Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, IT aut https://doi.org/10.1007/s002280050063 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s002280050063 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Magrini N. Interuniversity Research Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Vaccheri A. Interuniversity Research Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Parma E. Centre for Research in General Practice, Monza, Italy, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- D'Alessandro R. Unit of Neuroepidemiology, Institute of Neurology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bottoni A. Department of International Clinical Research and Drug Safety, Roche Ltd., Milan, Italy, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Occhionero M. Interuniversity Research Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, IT aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Montanaro N. Interuniversity Research Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, IT aut Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer