Assessing the need for deprescribing benzodiazepines in older adults in primary care: analysis of a Croatian cohort from the EuroAgeism H2020 ESR7 project

Abstract

Introduction and aim : Inappropriate and long-term use (longer than 12 weeks) of benzodiazepines (BZD) is associated with unfavourable outcomes, especially in sensitive groups of patients such as the older adults. In order to increase patient safety and improve outcomes, deprescribing should be suggested to patients with prolonged BZD use. Primary aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of BZD use in older adults in Croatian primary health care. Secondary aim was to estimate the need for their deprescribing