Older adults and withdrawal from benzodiazepine hypnotics in general practice: effects on cognitive function, sleep, mood and quality of life
@article{Curran2003OlderAA, title={Older adults and withdrawal from benzodiazepine hypnotics in general practice: effects on cognitive function, sleep, mood and quality of life}, author={H. Val Curran and Ruth Harvey Collins and Susan L. Fletcher and S Kee and B Woods and Steve Iliffe}, journal={Psychological Medicine}, year={2003}, volume={33}, pages={1223 - 1237} }
Background. Older adults are the main recipients of repeat prescriptions for benzodiazepine (BZD) hypnotics. BZDs can impair cognitive function and may not aid sleep when taken continuously for years. This study therefore aimed to determine if withdrawing from BZDs leads to changes in patients' cognitive function, quality of life, mood and sleep. Method. One hundred and ninety-two long-term users of BZD hypnotics, aged [ges ]65 years, were identified in 25 general practices. One hundred and…
166 Citations
Attitudes to long-term use of benzodiazepine hypnotics by older people in general practice: findings from interviews with service users and providers
- Medicine, PsychologyAging & mental health
- 2004
Patients and doctors had distinctly different views of the advantages, disadvantages and risks of stopping benzodiazepine hypnotic use, and an evidence-based approach to withdrawal efforts in primary care are necessary to reduce the consumption of medication that has little real benefit.
Effect of withdrawal from long-term use of temazepam, zopiclone or zolpidem as hypnotic agents on cognition in older adults
- Psychology, MedicineEuropean Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
- 2013
Long-term use of BDZ as hypnotic drugs by older adults is related to prolonged impairment of attentional and psychomotor cognitive functioning that persists for at least 6 months after withdrawal.
Effects of tapering of long-term benzodiazepines on cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia receiving a second-generation antipsychotic
- Medicine, PsychologyProgress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
- 2012
Withdrawal from long‐term use of zopiclone, zolpidem and temazepam may improve perceived sleep and quality of life in older adults with primary insomnia
- Psychology, MedicineBasic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology
- 2019
It is suggested that sleep disturbances, daytime fatigue and impaired quality of life may resolve within 6 months of BZDA withdrawal, and results encourage withdrawal from chronic use of benzodiazepine‐type hypnotics, particularly in older subjects.
Objective and subjective sleep quality: Melatonin versus placebo add-on treatment in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder withdrawing from long-term benzodiazepine use
- Psychology, MedicinePsychiatry Research
- 2016
One-Year Evolution of Sleep Quality in Older Users of Benzodiazepines: A Longitudinal Cohort Study in Belgian Nursing Home Residents
- Medicine, PsychologyDrugs & Aging
- 2014
Sleep quality in chronic BZD/Z users significantly decreased over 1 year and was significantly worse than in nonusers at the end of this period, suggesting that using B z-drugs chronically does not maintain or improve sleep quality.
Long-term persistence of withdrawal of temazepam , zopiclone , and zolpidem in older adults
- Medicine, Psychology
The persistence of temazepam, zolpidem, and zopiclone (BZDA) withdrawal among older outpatients at 3 years from the beginning of withdrawal is described, as well as any changes in use of other medications.
Long-term persistence of withdrawal of temazepam, zopiclone, and zolpidem in older adults: a 3-year follow-up study
- Medicine, PsychologyBMC Geriatrics
- 2018
The persistence of temazepam, zolpidem, and zopiclone (BZDA) withdrawal among older outpatients at 3 years from the beginning of withdrawal is described, as well as any changes in use of other medications.
Withdrawing Benzodiazepines in Primary Care
- Psychology, MedicineCNS Drugs
- 2009
The clearest strategy was to taper the medication; abrupt cessation can only be justified if a very serious adverse effect supervenes during treatment, and no clear evidence suggests the optimum rate of tapering, and schedules vary from 4 weeks to several years.
Analysis of benzodiazepine withdrawal program managed by primary care nurses in Spain
- Medicine, PsychologyBMC Research Notes
- 2012
A nurse-led BZD withdrawal program adapted to Spanish Primary Care working conditions showed an overall improvement in depression and anxiety scales, and in the mental component of the quality of life scale.
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 61 REFERENCES
Attitudes to long-term use of benzodiazepine hypnotics by older people in general practice: findings from interviews with service users and providers
- Medicine, PsychologyAging & mental health
- 2004
Patients and doctors had distinctly different views of the advantages, disadvantages and risks of stopping benzodiazepine hypnotic use, and an evidence-based approach to withdrawal efforts in primary care are necessary to reduce the consumption of medication that has little real benefit.
Long-term effects of alprazolam on memory: a 3·5 year follow-up of agoraphobia/panic patients
- Psychology, MedicinePsychological Medicine
- 1999
Ex-alprazolam patients performed at the same levels as ex-placebo patients on the memory task and on other objective tests, however there were differences in subjective ratings whereby ex-alPrazolham patients rated themselves as less attentive and clear headed and more incompetent and clumsy than ex- placebo patients.
Rational Use of Benzodiazepines in the Elderly
- Medicine, PsychologyDrugs & aging
- 1994
It is essential that the practitioner develop a treatment plan when utilising these agents to treat older patients, as the acute administration of benzodiazepines is associated with impairments in cognition, memory, coordination and balance, and long term use has been associated with symptoms of withdrawal upon abrupt discontinuation.
Differential acute psychomotor and cognitive effects of diazepam on long‐term benzodiazepine users
- Psychology, MedicineInternational clinical psychopharmacology
- 1994
It is suggested that neuroadaptative mechanisms, other than benzodiazepine receptor set-point shift, occur after long-term use of therapeutic doses of diazepam, and that tolerance to the memory effects never fully develops.
Cognitive impairment in long-term benzodiazepine users
- Psychology, MedicinePsychological Medicine
- 1988
It was found that patients taking high doses of benzodiazepines for long periods of time perform poorly on tasks involving visual-spatial ability and sustained attention, consistent with deficits in posterior cortical cognitive function.
Effects of Alcohol, Zolpidem, and Some Other Sedatives and Hypnotics on Human Performance and Memory
- MedicinePharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
- 1998
Current benzodiazepine issues
- Medicine, PsychologyPsychopharmacology
- 2005
Reviews of epidemiological, clinical and experimental literature indicated that the previous conclusion about abuse of these drugs still holds: the vast majority of the use of benzodiazepines is appropriate.
Age-related increase in CNS sensitivity to benzodiazepines as assessed by task difficulty
- Psychology, MedicinePsychopharmacology
- 2005
Evidence of increased drug sensitivity in the elderly was provided by the more prolonged duration of the pharmacologic effect in the older than young subjects, especially for the harder versions of the SCT and DSS tasks.
Benzodiazepine prescribing and withdrawal for 3234 patients in 15 general practices.
- Medicine, PsychologyFamily practice
- 1994
There was no relation between success at benzodiazepine cessation and initial levels of prescribing, nor with practice size, and younger patients were significantly more likely to stop Benzodiazepines than those over the age of 65.
Cognitive improvement following benzodiazepine discontinuation in elderly nursing home residents
- Psychology, Medicine
- 1992
In a controlled study, benzodiazepine treatment was gradually discontinued from a group of elderly nursing home residents, and measures of memory and cognitive functioning showed significant improvement following discontinuance, consistent with previous observations suggesting that Benzodiazepines impair cognitive function in the elderly.