Difficulties of general practitioners in (de)prescribing benzodiazepines

Abstract

Abstract Background In Portugal, the consumption of psychotropic drugs, namely benzodiazepines, is almost double the average European consumption. Most of the prescriptions for benzodiazepines (BZD) are carried out by family doctors, since they are doctors more accessible to the general population. Therefore, it is essential to assess the difficulties of family doctors in prescribing and discontinuing BZD in order to understand how to optimize the consumption of these drugs in Portugal. Methods The data were collected through a survey sent to family doctors across the country by email and other digital platforms. The participants were interns and specialists in family medicine and a convenience sample was obtained of 274 physicians. The survey, previously structured, contained three open questions and twenty-five statements to be classified using a Likert scale. For the quantitative analysis, SPSS® program was used and the qualitative analysis was performed using the MAXQDA® data analysis facilitation software. Results Difficulties related to: patient's beliefs/attitudes and doctor-patient communication, means and strategies of prescription and discontinuation, dependence and tolerance, unwanted effects of BZDs, need for BZD and lack of alternatives/resources, doctor-doctor communication and role of the family doctor were identified. Conclusions The qualitative approach used in this study was essential, since the theme of the study is not widely explored in Portugal. An added value of the study is the inclusion of interns in General and Family Medicine. Studies are suggested that deepen these topics and allow the development of appropriate strategies to optimize the process of BZD (de)prescription.