Benzodiazepine utilization patterns in Alzheimer's disease patients.

BACKGROUND

Benzodiazepines (BZD) are commonly prescribed in the elderly. Persons with dementia may be at a greater risk of adverse reactions of BZD such as cognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the prevalence of BZD use in Alzheimer's disease patients and to examine patient and drug-characteristics associated with this use.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

PARTICIPANTS

Five thousand community-dwelling and institutionalized patients initiating a treatment with tacrine for a mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease and included in the tacrine-study (Paco cohort).

MEASUREMENTS

Patient characteristics and BZD use recorded at the inclusion.

MAIN OUTCOME

Use of BZD during the 3 months prior to inclusion.

RESULTS

The 3-month prevalence of ever use of BZD was 20%. After controlling for age and gender, there was a non-significant inverse association between BZD use and a score of Mini-Mental Status Evaluation (MMSE) below 24 (OR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.71-1.09), and significant inverse association with an increased number of chronic conditions (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.58-0.91). Higher use of BZD was associated with higher level of overall drug consumption (OR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.97-2.80).

CONCLUSION

Alzheimer's disease patients are frequently prescribed BZD. A low score of MMSE (< 24) is associated with a decreased use of BZD. These results suggest important differences in BZD use patterns among persons with Alzheimer's disease.