Benzodiazepine use in patients hospitalized in a department of internal medicine: frequency and clinical correlates

Abstract

Purpose Misuse and overuse of benzodiazepines (BZD) are common. Several studies have shown that benzodiazepines are frequently used in hospitalized patients, but fewer studies have been conducted to investigate whether BZD use increases during the hospital stay or whether patients have already taken BZD before admission. Objective to assess the prevalence of benzodiazepine use in hospitalized patients and to determine characteristics associated with this use. Methods Prospective study over a 4‐month period based on all admissions to a department of internal medicine. The main outcome was the prevalence of benzodiazepine use at admission, during hospital stay and at discharge. Results Of 444 patients admitted, 147 (33%) used at least one benzodiazepine which was in 75% of the cases, short‐elimination half‐life BZD used as hypnotic. Of 105 (23.6%) patients using BZD at admission, 23 (5.2%) stopped BZD during hospital stay or when leaving hospital. The in‐hospital prevalence of BZD use was 30% (133 patients). In 28 (6.3%) patients without BZD at baseline, BZD was introduced during the hospital stay then stopped at discharge in 18 (4%) patients. The prevalence of BZD use at discharge was 23.9% (106 patients). In multivariate analyses, BZD use was significantly associated with number of drugs taken during hospitalization (OR:1.13; 95% CI: 1.03–1.24), and current neuropsychiatric diseases (OR:2.12; 95% CI: 0.86–5.23), but not with gender, age or length of stay. Conclusion Prevalence of BZD use appeared to be fairly high among hospitalized patients. There were very few new BZD users during hospital stay, most of whom were stopped at discharge. Most treatments were started before hospital, and continued during and after hospital stay without clear reevaluation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.