title: Pharmacoepidemiological characterisation of zolpidem and zopiclone usage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Zolpidem and zopiclone are two widely used non-benzodiazepine hypnotics whose usage seems to be associated to pharmacodependence. However, to our knowledge, there has as yet been no published epidemiological study which has compared their abuse or dependence potential. We used a pharmacoepidemiological approach to identify and characterise zolpidem and zopiclone users in real life situations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Regular users of zolpidem or zopiclone were identified in the database of a French regional health insurance organisation. A latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify different subgroups of users of these two hypnotics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study cohort comprised 25,168 patients who regularly used zolpidem and 21,860 who regularly used zopiclone. The results of the latent class analysis, which enables subgroups with similar patterns of response to be identified, revealed four clinical subtypes of users of zolpidem: non-problematic users, users with associations with hypnotics/anxiolytics or with associated mental disorders, and problematic users. Only three subgroups were identified for zopiclone, and LCA did not discriminate a special class of problematic users for this drug.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analysis indicates that there is a subclass of zolpidem user suggestive of abuse; this was not the case for zopiclone. This methodology is very interesting because it allows analysis of databases and determination of a specific signature of drugs potentially leading to abuse or dependence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Center for Evaluation and Information on Pharmacodependence, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France, caroline.vigneau@chu-nantes.fr.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Victorri-Vigneau
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Feuillet
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wainstein
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grall-Bronnec
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pivette
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaslerie
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sébille
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jolliet
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D053961:Azabicyclo Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000145:classification*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010879:Piperazines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011725:Pyridines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000077334:Zolpidem
chemical_list: D053961:Azabicyclo Compounds; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D010879:Piperazines; D011725:Pyridines; C515050:zopiclone; D000077334:Zolpidem