Sedativehypnotic prescription in an outpatient mental health service in the northwest

Sedativehypnotic medications are commonly abused prescription drugs, which are commonly prescribed by psychiatrists. We aimed at studying benzodiazepine and related drug prescriptions among patients attending psychiatric outpatient clinics of a hospital in East Lancashire. A total of 6.2 per cent of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical Governance: An International Journal 2003, Vol.8 (1), p.65-68
Main Authors: Duddu, V., Saleem, P.T., Green, K.
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Health care
Medicine
Mental health
United Kingdom
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Sedativehypnotic medications are commonly abused prescription drugs, which are commonly prescribed by psychiatrists. We aimed at studying benzodiazepine and related drug prescriptions among patients attending psychiatric outpatient clinics of a hospital in East Lancashire. A total of 6.2 per cent of patients who attended the department in one representative week were prescribed benzodiazepinerelated drugs. A majority of these had anxiety disorders, and anxiety was the major indication for prescription of these drugs. Diazepam, temazepam and related drugs like zopiclonezolpidem were the most commonly prescribed. Most subjects had been on the drug for one to 12 months. The prescriptions were not in keeping with the BNF guidelines in most cases. The findings do not support the hypothesis of an unduly high prevalence of sedative prescriptions in this setting. The results highlight a need for complete documentation of various aspects of benzodiazepine prescriptions.
ISSN:1477-7274
DOI:10.1108/14777270310459986