Keywords
Benzodiazepines
Psychotropics
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Abstract
Objective: To investigate the opinions of primary health care (PHC) physicians about the chronic use of benzodiazepines (BZD), their attitudes and barriers to changing practice. Method: Online questionnaire applied to PHC physicians in a city in the northeast. Results: Of the 60 PHC physicians in the municipality, 76.6% responded. 56.5% were female; 47.8% were under 30 years old and 63% were non-specialists. Regarding opinions, 97.7% agreed that chronic use of BZD is a public health problem, impairs cognition and requires information about dependence. 45.6% considered that insomnia/uncontrolled anxiety causes more harm than BZD. Regarding attitudes, the preferred therapies were SSRIs (29%), lifestyle changes (29%) and psychosocial therapy (24.6%). The main barriers were patient/caregiver insistence (87.2%), lack of access to non-pharmacological measures (80.4%), concern about patient worsening (41.3%) and lack of time (34.8%). Conclusion: The study highlights patient pressure, restrictions on access to therapeutic alternatives and to manage deprescription as perpetuators of BZD use.
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