title: [Determining factors for the use of anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs in the elderly].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To estimate the prevalence of self-reported anxiety/hypnotics use in adults 65 years and older and identify potential factors that determine the use of these drugs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study conducted on a study population of 1,161 non-institutionalised adults 65 years old and older with enough ability to conduct a personal interview. Participants were randomly selected from health care registers. The main outcomes of interest included consumption of anxiolytics, hypnotics and other drugs (filed by ATC classification system), mood (based on the Yesavage geriatric depression scale), cognitive status (Pfeiffer questionnaire), physical-functional assessment of basic activities of daily living (Katz index), health problems (ICPC-2 classification WONCA), and sociodemographic variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of self-reported anxiety/hypnotics consumption was 16.6% (95% CI: 14.5 - 18.7), of which 90.5% were benzodiazepines (BZD), mainly lorazepam (39.4% of BZD). Long half-life BZD accounted for 24.7% of BZD. Hypnotics accounted for 27.5% of anxiolytics/hypnotics. The use of sedatives/hypnotics was independently associated with other drugs (non-psychotropics) consumption (OR 6.8, 95% CI: 2.1-22.0), presence of established depression (OR: 2.5; 95% CI: 1.0 -5.9), presence of 4 or more comorbidities (OR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.4-2.9), being female (OR 2.1, 95% CI: 1.5-3.1) and being dependent for basic activities of daily living (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-2.9).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of sedatives/hypnotics use in the elderly from Albacete is high. Several factors were identified as potential determinants of sedatives/hypnotics use in our study population. It will be important to evaluate the misuse of these drugs in order to develop effective, efficient and safe prescription strategies.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Zona V-B de Albacete, Servicio de Salud de Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, España. Electronic address: juanmtellez@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Juan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Téllez-Lapeira
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Zona IV de Albacete, Servicio de Salud de Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: López-Torres Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud El Palo de Málaga, Servicio Andaluz de Salud Málaga, España.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gálvez-Alcaraz
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud de La Roda, Servicio de Salud de Castilla-La Mancha La Roda, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Párraga-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud Zona VIII de Albacete, Servicio de Salud de Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, España.
authors.forename: Clotilde
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boix-Gras
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacología y Terapéutica Clínica, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, España.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Ruiz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D057566:Self Report
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives
keywords: Ansiolíticos; Anxiolytics; Consumo; Consumption; Elderly; Epidemiological factors; Factores epidemiológicos; Hipnóticos; Hypnotics; Mayores