Attitudes of general practitioners to benzodiazepine prescribing and withdrawal

Abstract

General practitioners are still responsible for most long-term prescribing of benzodiazepines. These drugs have undesirable side-effects and are generally considered difficult to withdraw. A study was undertaken to determine the opinions of general practitioners about the prescribing and withdrawal of these drugs. All 175 general practitioners in the Sefton North Merseyside area were sent a questionnaire asking about their attitude to prescribing benzodiazepines and their practice in withdrawing them. The 85 general practitioners who responded were generally reluctant to prescribe benzodiazepines and keen to help their patients withdraw from them. There was no discernible difference in attitudes to benzodiazepines between doctors who participated in an auditofbenzodiazepine prescribing, and those who did not do so. This study supports the view that general practitioners are now reluctant to prescribe benzodiazepines and want to help their patients withdraw from these drugs.