[Benzodiazepines and cyclopyrrolones prior to, during and after hospital admission].

INTRODUCTION

The aim was to describe the prescription patterns of benzodiazepines (BZD) and cyclopyrrolones (Z-drugs) in a population of medical and surgical patients prior to, during and after hospital admission.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Data were collected from medical records, the physicians' order entry system and the national electronic pharmacy registry.

RESULTS

Overall, 38% of the 135 included patients did not receive BZD/Z-drugs at any time. A total of 30% were pre-admission users. While in hospital, 50% were users and 17% were users at discharge and 30% during the six months follow-up period (p < 0.0001). Changes in the usage pattern were mainly due to a significant increase in Z-drug use during hospital admission combined with a decrease in BZD and Z-drug use at discharge. During hospitalisation, 40% of the 94 pre-admission non-users of BZD/Z-drugs received BZD/Z-drugs. At the time of discharge, 61% of pre-admission users had become non-users, and 8.5% of the non-users had become users. Over the 6-month post-discharge period, 29 patients (21%) received >or= 3 prescriptions for BZD/Z-drugs (chronic users) compared with 21 (16%) before admission.

CONCLUSION

Medical and surgical hospitalized patients are frequently treated with Z-drugs and BZDs prior to, during and after hospital admission. The usage pattern changes significantly during hospital admission, with more prescriptions for Z-drugs being issued.