title: Benzodiazepines: utilization and patterns of use in a university hospital.
abstract: Information on the number of benzodiazepine prescriptions in all the departments of the Innsbruck University Clinics in 1985 was obtained from the hospital pharmacy. Expenditure on benzodiazepines amounted to 0.5% of total medication costs. In a second step, the authors questioned 264 patients from the five largest departments about benzodiazepine use. On the day of the interview, 24.1% of all investigated male patients and 20.5% of the female patients were taking benzodiazepines. Of the patients found to take benzodiazepines, 34.5% had already been using these before hospital admission. One-fifth of these patients reported problems when trying to stop medication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Clinics, Austria.
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Fleischhacker
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barnas
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stuppäck
mesh_terms: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines