INCREASED BENZODIAZEPINE USE IN ELDERLY WOMEN ATTENDING URBAN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTERS

Objective. To determine the overall prevalence of the chronic use of benzodiazepines and similar drugs in primary care. Design. Observational, cross-sectional study. Setting. Healthcare centres of the Reus-Altebrat Primary Care Service, Tarragona, Spain. Participants. Patients older than 15 years, on prolonged treatment with benzodiazepines or similar drugs. Measurements. The variables studied were age, sex, type of healthcare centre (rural or urban), benzodiazepine, or similar drug administered and duration of treatment. Results. There were 6885 patients who were on prolonged benzodiazepine or similar drug treatment, of which 70.9% were female, 73.4% were 65 years or older, and 73% attended an urban centre. The overall prevalence was 6.9%, and was higher among women than men (9.7% and 4%, respectively), and increased with age up to 27.3% among patients of 75 years or more. The stratified results showed that chronic consumption was higher among women 75 years of age or older attached to urban healthcare centres, with a prevalence of 35.7%. Conclusions. A high percentage of our population, which includes the most fragile patients, use benzodiazepines or a similar drug in a way that is not consistent with the recommendations of clinical practice guidelines.