Prescribing Z-drugs in Greece: an analysis of the national prescription database from 2018 to 2021.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Z-drugs are indicated for the short-treatment of insomnia, but they are associated with abuse, dependence and side-effects. There are only sparse data about Z-drug prescribing in Greece.

Methods

We analyzed data from the Greek prescription database, considering prescriptions for the available Z-drugs in Greece, i.e., zolpidem and zopiclone, during the period from 01.10.2018 to 01.10.2021 in order to examine the prevalence, monthly number and characteristics of Z-drug prescriptions in Greece.

Results

There were 1,229,842 prescriptions for Z-drugs (zolpidem: 89.7%) during the investigated period from 2018 to 2021, which corresponded to 156,554 patients (73.1% ≥ 65 years, 64.5% female). More than half of the patients (65.8%) had more than one prescription

SUBMITTER: Siafis S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10214344 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature