{
  "abstract": "Background and Importance Benzodiazepines are widely prescribed in elderly patients despite the associated risks of falls, cognitive impairment and dependence. Hospital admission represents a potential point to reassess chronic benzodiazepine use.Aim and Objectives Determine whether the prescription of benzodiazepines during hospital admission influences their prescription upon discharge.Material and Methods An observational, descriptive and retrospective study was conducted in patients aged ≥ 65 years hospitalised in surgical wards who were discharged home during July 2024. Exclusion criteria were hospital death and discharge to other healthcare centres. Benzodiazepine use was recorded during admission (via hospital prescription sheet) and at discharge, 3 and 6 months post-discharge (via electronic prescriptions). Benzodiazepine use during admission was considered non-existent when they were prescribed only as preoperative anxiolytics. Demographic data (age, sex, Adjusted Morbidity Group [AMG]), length of stay and the most frequently prescribed benzodiazepines before, during and after admission were also analysed.Results Of 161 eligible patients, 139 were analysed (143 admissions). The population included 65 women (45.5%) and 78 men (54.5%), with a median age of 75.6 years, mean AMG 2.9 and mean length of stay 7.8 days. Lorazepam was the most frequently prescribed benzodiazepine. Although benzodiazepine use was 2.9 times more likely at discharge among those exposed compared to those not exposed, 2.4 times more likely at 3 months and 2 times more likely at 6 months, no patients without a prior benzodiazepine prescription received them at discharge. Conversely, there were 3 patients with a benzodiazepine prescription at admission who discontinued treatment at discharge. In addition, 6 patients required a change in their home benzodiazepine to adapt it to hospital’s pharmacotherapy guidelines.Conclusion and Relevance Based on the results obtained, it appears that hospital benzodiazepine exposure was not associated with new prescriptions at discharge among patients without previous use. These results suggest that hospital admission could be a key opportunity to review chronic benzodiazepine treatment and promote safer prescribing in elderly patients. Broader studies including other medical services are needed to validate these observations.References and/or Acknowledgements 1. Bell CM, Fischer HD, Gill SS, Zagorski B, Sykora K, Wodchis WP, Herrmann N, Bronskill SE. Initiation of benzodiazepines in the elderly after hospitalization. J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Jul;22(7):1024–9.Conflict of Interest No conflict of interest",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "A Gallego Casado"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "J Rodríguez Carballo"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "A Gonzalo González"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "S Fuertes Camporro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "L Currás Varela"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "A Fernández González"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "A Goenaga Ansola"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "M Fernández Vicente"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Hospital Universitario De Cabueñes, Pharmacy, Gijón, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "C Martínez-Múgica Barbosa"
    }
  ],
  "title": "5PSQ-084 Analysis of benzodiazepine use after hospital discharge in elderly patients",
  "uid": "0d66410f-7f20-5df1-9c3f-0defc4ba145b"
}