Prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics associated with benzodiazepines use among community dwelling older adults: the Bambuí Health and Aging Study (BHAS).
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics associated with benzodiazepine use among community-dwelling older adults.


METHODS
1606 subjects, aged > 60 years, corresponding to 92% of the residents of Bambuí city, participated in this study. The information about medication use was obtained by means of a standard interview and the review of medication packaging. Substances were classified using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Index.


RESULTS
The prevalence of benzodiazepine current use was 21.7% (26.7% among females and 14.0% among males). From these, 68.7% had been taking the medication for over one year, 31.3% for over five years and 53.2% were using long half-life benzodiazepines. The medication most frequently used was bromazepam (35.6%), followed by diazepam (22.5%), clonazepam (12.6%) and lorazepam (7.8%). After adjustment for confounders, female gender (RP = 1.93; CI95% = 1.51-2.46) was the only sociodemographic characteristic found to be independently associated with substance consumption.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of benzodiazepine use in the study population was high, but within the variation observed in developed countries. Chronic use of benzodiazepines and long half-life medications predominated.
Alvarenga
Jussara Mendonça
JM
Public Health and Aging Research Group, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) and Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. lima-costa@cpqrr.fiocruz.br
Loyola Filho
Antônio Ignácio de
AI
Firmo
Josélia Oliveira Araújo
JO
Lima-Costa
Maria Fernanda
MF
Uchoa
Elizabeth
E
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017891:Pharmacoepidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines