Prescription patterns of benzodiazepines and Z drugs in psychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital

Background: Benzodiazepines are routinely prescribed for various psychiatric disorders. They are effective for short term management but commonly seen to be prescribed for long term against the recommended guidelines leading to various adverse effects in patients. There is dearth of Indian literature pertaining to prescription as well as deprescribing of benzodiazepines and Z drugs. Aims and Objectives: To assess the prescription pattern of benzodiazepines and Z drugs among patients visiting the department of psychiatry in a tertiary care hospital. Material and Methods: Case record files of patients visiting the inpatient and outpatient setting from 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017 were retrieved and analysed for sociodemographic and clinical details and prescription of benzodiazepines. Results: A total of 975 records of patients were included in the study. The mean age group was 36.79 + 13.05years. Benzodiazepines prescription was maximum in patients with anxiety spectrum disorders (38.4%). Clonazepam was the most commonly prescribed benzodiazepine (47.%). More than 50 percent of the patients continued to consume benzodiazepines for more than 3 months). There was significant positive association of long term benzodiazepine usage with duration of illness, diagnosis, type of benzodiazepines received and length of outpatient treatment. Conclusion: The study concludes that majority of patients continue to consume benzodiazepines beyond the recommended period of usage. Thus there is a need for structured guidelines for prescribing and deprescribing of benzodiazepines and Z drugs.