Mell Thomas, Jacob Louis, Fuhr Ida, Dick Sandra, Rapp Michael A, Kostev Karel
Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2017 Jun;55(6):466-471. doi: 10.5414/CP202904.
The patterns of benzodiazepine prescriptions in older adults are of general and scientific interest as they are not yet well understood. The aim of this study was to compare the prescription patterns of benzodiazepines in elderly people in Germany to determine the share or proportion treated by general practitioners (GP) and neuropsychiatrists (NP).
This study included 31,268 and 6,603 patients between the ages of 65 and 100 with at least one benzodiazepine prescription in 2014 from GP and NP, respectively. Demographic data included age, gender, and type of health insurance coverage. The share of elderly people with benzodiazepine prescriptions was estimated in different age and disease groups for both GP and NP patients. The share of the six most commonly prescribed drugs was also calculated for each type of practice.
The share of people taking benzodiazepines prescribed by GP increased from 3.2% in patients aged between 65 and 69 years to 8.6% in patients aged between 90 and 100 years, whereas this share increased from 5.4% to 7.1% in those seen by NP. Benzodiazepines were frequently used by patients suffering from sleep disorders (GP: 33.9%; NP: 5.5%), depression (GP: 17.9%; NP: 29.8%), and anxiety disorders (GP: 14.5%; NP: 22.8%). Lorazepam (30.3%), oxazepam (24.7%), and bromazepam (24.3%) were the three most commonly prescribed drugs for GP patients. In contrast, lorazepam (60.4%), diazepam (14.8%), and oxazepam (11.2%) were those more frequently prescribed to NP patients.
CONCLUSION: Prescription patterns of benzodiazepine in the elderly varied widely between GP and NP. .
老年人苯二氮䓬类药物的处方模式尚未得到充分理解，因此具有普遍的科学研究价值。本研究的目的是比较德国老年人苯二氮䓬类药物的处方模式，以确定全科医生（GP）和神经精神科医生（NP）治疗的比例。
本研究分别纳入了2014年至少有一张来自全科医生和神经精神科医生的苯二氮䓬类药物处方的31268名和6603名年龄在65至100岁之间的患者。人口统计学数据包括年龄、性别和医疗保险类型。分别估算了全科医生和神经精神科医生患者中不同年龄和疾病组开具苯二氮䓬类药物处方的老年人比例。还计算了每种类型医疗机构中六种最常用药物的比例。
全科医生开具苯二氮䓬类药物的患者比例从65至69岁患者中的3.2%增加到90至100岁患者中的8.6%，而神经精神科医生诊治的患者中这一比例从5.4%增加到7.1%。睡眠障碍患者（全科医生：33.9%；神经精神科医生：5.5%）、抑郁症患者（全科医生：17.9%；神经精神科医生：29.8%）和焦虑症患者（全科医生：14.5%；神经精神科医生：22.8%）经常使用苯二氮䓬类药物。劳拉西泮（30.3%）、奥沙西泮（24.7%）和溴西泮（24.3%）是全科医生患者最常开具的三种药物。相比之下，劳拉西泮（60.4%）、地西泮（14.8%）和奥沙西泮（11.2%）是神经精神科医生患者更常开具的药物。
全科医生和神经精神科医生在老年人苯二氮䓬类药物的处方模式上存在很大差异。
