A comparison of oral midazolam, nitrazepam and placebo in young and elderly subjects.

Twelve young and twelve elderly subjects received a single dose orally of midazolam 15 mg, nitrazepam 5 mg and placebo in a double-blind, crossover comparison. Midazolam acted rapidly, producing a deep sleep at 1 h in fifteen subjects compared to two after Nitrazepam and none after placebo. No comparison of psychomotor tests was possible at this time, but such tests showed that there was no detectable subjective or objective psychomotor impairment at 4 h postdose with either drug. However, the EEG scores strongly suggested that volunteers were more sleepy at 8 h after nitrazepam in comparison to placebo or midazolam. Both groups appeared to handle the drug in a similar manner, there being no significant differences between the groups in the plasma concentration time curves of nitrazepam, or midazolam. The elderly had higher concentrations of alpha-hydroxymidazolam. This accounted for a small proportion of the total plasma benzodiazepine concentration, and the mean area under the curve for midazolam and metabolite was not significantly different in the old from that in the young.