Patients' and physicians' characteristics associated with the purchase of benzodiazepines by older primary care patients in Israel.
This study evaluated patients' and physicians' characteristics associated with the purchase of benzodiazepines by older primary care patients in Israel. The analytic sample consists of those 6,421 patients age 65 and older. We used multi-level analysis with whether or not benzodiazepines were purchased at least once between June 2005 and 2007 as an outcome. We also evaluated patients' and physicians' characteristics associated with the purchase of benzodiazepines for 6 months or longer. Almost half the sample (41.5%) purchased benzodiazepines at least once during the study period and more than half (54.5%) of those purchasing benzodiazepines had a continued purchase for 6 months or longer. Physicians' characteristics explained only a small portion of the variance associated with purchasing, whereas patients' demographic and clinical characteristics were associated with purchasing. Any intervention to improve the use of benzodiazepines should be directed at both patients and physicians.
Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. liatayalon0@gmail.com
Liat
L
Ayalon
Revital
R
Gross
Aviv
A
Yaari
Elan
E
Feldhamer
Ran D
RD
Balicer
Margalit
M
Goldfracht
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D055361:Multilevel Analysis; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
D001569:Benzodiazepines