Adverse effects of benzodiazepines in psychiatric outpatients.

BACKGROUND Benzodiazepines are among the most frequently prescribed drugs. Of all their side effects, hip fractures and possibility of developing dependence are usually studied. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine how often do psychiatric outpatients suffer from adverse effects of benzodiazepines, and which adverse effects do they notice. SUBJECTS AND METHOD 109 patients on two consecutive days were asked to fill in the questionnaire. Among them were 29 women and 80 men. Ten women (1/3) and 20 men (1/4) refused to participate in the study. RESULTS 68% of women and 93% of men used benzodiazepines at least once in a lifetime; 40% of women used benzodiazepines in the last seven days, and 93% of men (32% of women and 44% of men used benzodiazepines every day for the last seven days). Unfortunately, 8% of men used more then one benzodiazepine daily. All of the women who used benzodiazepines had at least one adverse effect; and 91% of men had adverse effects. One third of women and one quarter of men stopped taking benzodiazepines due to adverse effects. The mean number of adverse effects was 4.8 both in men and women. Those who stopped taking benzodiazepines didn't have more adverse effects in comparison to those who continued to use them. More than half of the participants suffered from sleepiness, slowness and fatigue. One third of the participants said they noticed the change in sexual drive. More then 30% of women noticed dizziness and only 6% of men. None of the participants said to have jaundice after using benzodiazepines. The same adverse effects were present in those who stopped taking the drugs and in those who continued to use them. CONCLUSION The prevalence of benzodiazepine use is very high in psychiatric patients. Many of them notice adverse effects, but mainly continue to use the drug.