Frequent Use Of Benzodiazepines Research Articles

Substance use and symptoms of mental health disorders: a prospective cohort of patients with severe substance use disorders in Norway

BackgroundThere is high co-occurrence of substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health disorders. We aimed to assess impact of substance use patterns and sociodemographic factors on mental health distress using the ten-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-10) over time.MethodsNested prospective cohort study of 707 participants with severe SUD across nine opioid-agonist-therapy outpatient clinics and low-threshold municipality clinics in Norway, during 2017–2020. Descriptive statistics were derived at baseline and reported by means and standard deviation (SD). A linear mixed model analysis was used to assess the impact of substance use patterns and sociodemographic factors on SCL-10 sum score with beta coefficients with 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsMean (SD) SCL-10 score was 2.2 (0.8) at baseline with large variations across patients. We observed more symptoms of mental health disorders among people with frequent use of benzodiazepines (beta 3.6, CI:2.4;4.8), cannabis (1.3, CI:0.2;2.5), opioids (2.7, CI:1.1;4.2), and less symptoms among people using frequent stimulant use (− 2.7, CI:-4.1;-1.4) compared to no or less frequent use. Females (1.8, CI:0.7;3.0) and participants with debt worries (2.2, CI:1.1;3.3) and unstable living conditions (1.7, CI:0.0;3.3) had also higher burden of mental health symptoms. There were large individual variations in SCL-10 score from baseline to follow-up, but no consistent time trends indicating change over time for the whole group. 65% of the cohort had a mean score > 1.85, the standard reference score.ConclusionsPeople with SUD have a considerable burden of mental health symptoms. We found no association between substance use patterns and change in mental health symptoms over time. This could suggest that the differences observed were indicating flattening of effects or self-medication to a larger degree than medication-related decline in mental health. This call for better individualized mental health assessment and patient care.

Impact of clinical and sociodemographic factors on fatigue among patients with substance use disorder: a cohort study from Norway for the period 2016\u20132020

BackgroundThe impact of clinical and sociodemographic factors on fatigue remains unknown among patients with substance use disorders (SUD). This study aims to evaluate fatigue among patients with SUD using a nine-item fatigue severity scale (FSS-9) and identify the impact that clinical and sociodemographic factors – such as injecting substance use, chronic infectious diseases, liver fibrosis, opioid agonist therapy (OAT), debt difficulties, and housing situation – have on fatigue.MethodsWe used data from a cohort of patients with SUD in Norway with annual health assessments surveying FSS-9 and some clinical and sociodemographic factors. A total of 915 FSS-9 measurements were collected from 654 patients during the period 2016–2020. We defined baseline as the first annual health assessment when the health assessments were listed chronologically. Time was defined as years from baseline. We used a linear mixed model to analyse whether the clinical and sociodemographic factors affected the FSS-9 sum score, presented with beta coefficients (β) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsThe mean sum score of the FSS-9 was 43 (standard deviation: 16) at baseline. Females compared with males (adjusted mean difference of FSS-9 sum score: 4.1, 95% CI: 1.3–7.0), having debt difficulties compared with having no debt difficulties (2.9;0.4–5.3), and frequent use of benzodiazepines (5.7;3.0–8.4) or amphetamines (-5.0;-8.0– -2.0) compared to less frequent or no use of these substances changed the FSS-9 baseline sum score. The other clinical and sociodemographic factors did not predict any clinically relevant change in the FSS-9 sum score from baseline to the following health assessments.ConclusionPatients with SUD suffer from high levels of fatigue. Female patients, patients with debt difficulties, and those with extensive use of benzodiazepines are at particular risk of being fatigued. This should be taken into consideration when planning health services.

Electroconvulsive therapy and its relationships with clinical characteristics and quality of life in Chinese psychiatric patients.

Little is known about the pattern of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) use in the clinical population in China. This study examined the percentage of ECT use and its association with clinical characteristics and quality of life (QOL) in a psychiatric center in China that caters for a population of 20 million. A total sample of 1364 inpatients was consecutively recruited for the study. Demographic and clinical data including the use of ECT were collected. Psychopathology, activity of daily living and QOL were measured using standardized instruments. The percentage of ECT use was 52.1% in the whole sample; 53.4% in major depression, 57.8% in bipolar disorder, 57.0% in schizophrenia and 32.4% in other diagnoses. There was no significant difference between the ECT and non-ECT groups in any domain of QOL. Multivariate analyses revealed that ECT was independently associated with the diagnoses of major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, physical restraint, severe aggression, better activity of daily living skills, more frequent use of antipsychotics and less frequent use of benzodiazepines. The percentage of ECT use was much greater in a major psychiatric center in China than those reported from other parts of the world. Use of ECT had no influence on the short-term QOL. Further investigations are warranted to explore the reasons for the high percentage of ECT use.

Alcohol use disorders and current pharmacological therapies: the role of GABA(A) receptors.

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are defined as alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence, which create large problems both for society and for the drinkers themselves. To date, no therapeutic can effectively solve these problems. Understanding the underlying mechanisms leading to AUD is critically important for developing effective and safe pharmacological therapies. Benzodiazepines (BZs) are used to reduce the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. However, frequent use of BZs causes cross-tolerance, dependence, and cross-addiction to alcohol. The FDA-approved naltrexone and acamprosate have shown mixed results in clinical trials. Naltrexone is effective to treat alcohol dependence (decreased length and frequency of drinking bouts), but its severe side effects, including withdrawal symptoms, are difficult to overcome. Acamprosate showed efficacy for treating alcohol dependence in European trials, but two large US trials have failed to confirm the efficacy. Another FDA-approved medication, disulfiram, does not diminish craving, and it causes a peripheral neuropathy. Kudzu is the only natural medication mentioned by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, but its mechanisms of action are not yet established. It has been recently shown that dihydromyricetin, a flavonoid purified from Hovenia, has unique effects on GABAA receptors and blocks ethanol intoxication and withdrawal in alcoholic animal models. In this article, we review the role of GABAA receptors in the treatment of AUD and currently available and potentially novel pharmacological agents.

Survey of benzodiazepine and antidepressant use in outpatients with mood disorders in Japan

Data on benzodiazepine use in mood disorders are still limited, especially among seniors. A cross-sectional review of psychotropic prescriptions in 948 outpatients with mood disorders (405 male; mean +/- SD age, 52 +/- 17 years; age range, 16- 91 years) was conducted in Japan. The use of benzodiazepine-derivative anxiolytics was approximately 60% in all decades, including older patients, without a group difference. The frequent use of benzodiazepines is a cause for concern because they are not preferred treatment, given their well-known adverse effects especially in the elderly.

Prevalence and Correlates of Insomnia and its Impact on Quality of Life in Chinese Schizophrenia Patients

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the sociodemographic and clinical correlates of insomnia in Chinese schizophrenia outpatients and its impact on patients' quality of life (QOL). Two hundred fifty-five clinically stable schizophrenia outpatients were randomly selected in Hong Kong and their counterparts matched according to sex, age, age at onset, and length of illness were recruited in Beijing, China. All subjects at both sites were interviewed by the same investigator using standardized assessment instruments. Hong Kong and Beijing, China. Clinically stable schizophrenia outpatients. N/A. In the combined Beijing-Hong Kong sample the frequency of at least one type of insomnia over the previous 12 months was 36.0%; the rates of difficulty initiating sleep (DIS), difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS), and early morning awakening (EMA) were 21.2%, 23.6%, and 11.9%, respectively. Poor sleep was significantly associated with advanced age, older age at onset, fewer psychiatric admissions, severity of positive symptoms, anxiety, extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) and depressive symptoms, less frequent use of atypical antipsychotic medications (AP), and more frequent use of benzodiazepines (BZD) and hypnotics. Poor sleepers had significantly poorer QOL in all domains than patients without insomnia. After controlling for the potential confounding effects of sociodemographic and clinical factors, a significant difference remained between the 2 groups with regard to the physical QOL domain. A multiple logistic regression analysis found that advanced age, fewer psychiatric admissions, severity of depressive symptoms and use of hypnotics were significant contributors to poor sleep. Insomnia is independently associated with poor QOL. More attention should be paid in clinical practice to the high rate of insomnia in Chinese schizophrenia patients.

Pattern of utilization of benzodiazepines in patients with hypertension: A pilot study

The analysis of drug prescribing in general practice in Serbia showed that the use of benzodiazepines is most frequently associated with hypertension. The aim of this study was to establish the correlation of the characteristics of patients with hypertension to antihypertensive drug therapy, and the intake of benzodiazepines. A special questionnaire was used for interviewing the patients (n = 171) chronically treated for hypertenson. Statistical tests used were chi2-test and Student's t-test. No differences were noted in terms of age, gender, education, body weight, smoking habits and blood pressure (155 +/- 4.9/100 +/- 2.7 mmHg vs. 160 +/- 2.2/105 +/- 3.7 mmHg), between the group I (antihypertensive drugs+benzodiazepines: n = 79), and the group II (antihypertensives only: n = 92). The patients taking benzodiazepines received a lower number of different antihypertensive drugs (2.3 +/- 0.09 vs. 2.7 +/- 0.10; p < 0.01), but the total antihypertensive drug load was significantly greater than in the group II (2.6 +/- 0.10 vs. 1.9 +/- 0.15 defined daily doses (DDD)/patient/day; p < 0.01). Benzodiazepines were taken for anxiety (62%) and hypertension (21%), rarely for insomnia, mostly once a day, at bedtime. About half the patients took benzodiazepines regularly for months or years aware of the risk for addiction. Diazepam was used by 82% of the patients. The average daily exposure to benzodiazepines was 0.45 +/- 0.05 DDD/patient/day. The drug was bought without prescription in 25% of the patients, and without consulting a physician in 12% of them. The study confirmed a close association of hypertension with the use of benzodiazepines. The frequent use of benzodiazepines in the patients with hypertension might be caused by an inadequate response to antihypertensive drug therapy, besides anxiety and insomnia. The therapeutic efficacy of a long-term use of low doses of benzodiazepines in hypertension requires further investigation.

A comparison of the drugs taken in fatal and nonfatal self-poisoning.

The objective of this study was a) to compare patterns of drug use in fatal and nonfatal overdoses and b) to find out if toxic drugs are overrepresented in overdoses with fatal outcome. A total of 179 cases of fatal overdoses in Switzerland (population 6.6 million) were compared with 269 medically treated self-poisoners from the agglomeration of Berne (population 301,630). Because of frequent multiple drug use, all the different compounds taken singly or in combination with other drugs were recorded and grouped according to drug types. The patterns of the frequencies of drugs used were remarkably similar in both groups. The majority of the drugs were psychotropics (81% in fatal and 68% in nonfatal overdose). Twenty-nine completed suicides were the result of drug combinations specifically recommended by EXIT. In the remaining cases benzodiazepines were used most frequently in both attempted and completed suicide, often in combination with other drugs or alcohol. Barbiturates were the only drugs recorded significantly more often in fatal overdoses (9% vs 3%). No significant difference was found for tricyclic antidepressants (13% vs 10%), or other types of drugs. The results are consistent with our assumption that drugs with higher toxicity would be overrepresented in overdoses with fatal outcome. Barbiturates, which are well known to be dangerous in overdose, were clearly associated with fatal overdoses, but not tricyclic antidepressants. This, in our view, suggests that the risk of prescribing tricyclic antidepressants should not be overestimated. The frequent use of benzodiazepines in completed suicide, however, indicates that there are no truly safe drugs in overdose.