Cognitive performance of chronic users of benzodiazepines: a study in primary health care

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate, among chronic users of benzodiazepines in primary health care, executive functions and visual-special skills based on the Clock Drawing Test (TDR) and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), since it is notorious the growing chronic and indiscriminate use of these medications by the general population, given the levels of anxiety and insomnia, with a prevalence of use ranging from 7.3% to 63.8%. Therefore, a cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive and ecological study was carried out in a Basic Health Unit in the city of Patos, Paraíba. A non-probabilistic sample was adopted, determined through the applicability of the eligibility criteria. Two data collection instruments were applied: a standard sociodemographic form and the MMSE. The mean time of chronic use was 112.78 months for the research participants, most of whom were male. In the target population of the study, the mean score on the MMSE was 23.61 and on the TDR it was 5.27. An important prevalence of comorbidities and unhealthy lifestyle habits was found in the analyzed population and an intrinsic relationship between chronic users of BZ at the UBS in the municipality of Patos-PB and a cognitive déficit.