frequency of benzodiazepine prescribing

Last reviewed 01/2018

Despite a substantial decline in prescribing of benzodiazepines, hypnotics still account for a large number of prescriptions issued by the primary care each year (1,2).

  • the most commonly prescribed benzodiazepines are diazepam, temazepam and nitrazepam (1)
  • dispensing data for benzodiazepine showed an overall substantial decrease in England from 1991 to 2009
    • a decrease in dispensing of hypnotic benzodiazepines was the main reason for the overall decrease
    • there was an overall increase in dispensing of anxiolytic benzodiazepines during this time period but it was less marked than the total decrease in all benzodiazepine dispensing
  • according to 2002 data issued by the Department of Health:
    • GP’s in England wrote 12.7 million prescriptions (cost of £20.9 million) in 2002 compared to 15.8 million prescriptions (worth £13.8 million) in 1992. (higher cost despite fewer prescriptions was due to the more expensive newer agents)
    • 30% of prescriptions were for 56 or more tablets - suggesting that a large number of people receive long term treatment
    • 56% of prescriptions for the three most common benzodiazepines were prescribed for people over 65 years of age (3)

The General Practice Research Database (GPRD) has shown that

  • the median length of benzodiazepine prescribing episodes (series of prescription) was 29 days which is slightly more than the maximum time frame recommended by NICE guidelines
  • over 90% of benzodiazepine prescriptions in this population were prescribed as part of a series of repeat prescriptions,
  • over one third of the repeat prescription episodes lasted more than 8 weeks (1)

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