Study on the Characteritic Use of Benzodiazepines for Insomniacs among Several Clinical Departments

Abstract

In order to determine the characterristic use of benzodiazepines for insomniacs amongpsychiatrists and other physicians, we retrospectively investigated the prescriptions for outpatients consulting psychiatry, internal medicine 1 and orthopaedic surgery departments at Nagasaki University Hospital. In the psychiatry department, the rate of prescriptions on an intermediate-term or a long-term effective type was approximately 60%, and combinations with 2 or 3 kinds of benzodiazepines were found in approximately 30% of all prescriptions. In the internal medicine 1 and orthopaedic surgery departments, more than 80 % of the benzodiazepines prescribed were an ultrashort-term or a short-term effective type. Other differences in the use of benzodiazepines for insomniac were also observed for the psychiatry and other clinical departments.