title: Patterns of hypnotic medication use for sleep disturbance amongst hospital inpatients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this article is to examine patterns of temazepam prescribing amongst inpatients at a Sydney teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved a retrospective file audit of 98.8% (n=410) of patients discharged from psychiatry, medical, surgical and obstetric and gynaecology wards of Nepean Hospital during a one-week period. Data was collected on patient demographics, temazepam and other sedative-hypnotic use, falls risk and analgesia use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen per cent (n=64) of patients were prescribed temazepam during their stay. All patients from the psychiatry wards had been prescribed temazepam. Fifteen per cent (n=6) of falls risk patients had been prescribed temazepam. Temazepam prescription was associated with an increased length of stay, psychiatry and surgical wards, and higher use of analgesia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Temazepam continues to be a frequently prescribed medication in the acute psychiatry setting. Its frequent prescription to patients in surgical wards and to those prescribed analgesic agents indicates that it still has a role in settling patients to sleep in the hospital setting.
authors: Sydney Medical School-Nepean, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. kran5388@uni.sydney.edu.au
authors: Katherine
authors: K
authors: Rankin
authors: Vlasios
authors: V
authors: Brakoulias
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013693:Temazepam / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D013693:Temazepam