โ Scribed by Rolf Van Hulten; Eibert R. Heerdink; Albert Bakker; Hubert G. Leufkens
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
The association between patterns of use of benzodiazepines and chronic somatic morbidity was examined by applying the Chronic Disease Score (CDS). In the only pharmacy in a Dutch community, 6921 patients with data available covering a 10-year period (1983ยฑ1992) were included. In 1992, twothirds of the patients had a CDS of 0, indicating no chronic morbidity. Patients with chronic morbidity showed a twofold risk of a history of benzodiazepine use. Within the group of benzodiazepine users, longer exposure to benzodiazepines as well as a history of dierent benzodiazepines were associated with a higher risk of chronic morbidity. Duration of episodes of use and daily dose were not found to be signiยฎcantly associated with chronic disease. A pattern of increased benzodiazepine use showed a higher risk of chronic morbidity compared with benzodiazepine users with a stable use. Moreover, a history of benzodiazepine use was found to predict a sharp increase in chronic morbidity. We found a clear association between previous and actual use of benzodiazepines and chronic somatic disease. Benzodiazepine use may be induced by sleeping diculties and anxiety problems caused by the chronic disease.
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
This article presents results from a retrospective study of psychological assessments of elderly persons with chronic mental illness residing in nursing homes. All residents (N = 570) received this assessment as part of federally mandated screening for mentally ill persons residing in long-term care