Sedative–hypnotic drug use among community-dwelling elderly in Taiwan

Abstract

This study is one of the largest pioneer studies to date to survey sedatives-hypnotics use among community-dwelling elderly. One in five community-dwelling older adults reported sedative-hypnotic drugs use in Taiwan, and about 5% of sedative and/or hypnotics usage was without a doctor's prescription. Findings could be helpful for drug-use safety interventions to identify target geriatric patients who are in general at higher risk of downstream harm associated with sedative-hypnotic use in geriatric patients.

Sex-Specific Moderation Effect of Age on the Associations Between Insomnia Symptoms and Various Psychological Distresses

“…However, the robustness of the malespecific moderation effect of age in this study is assured by the lack of this finding among the women respondentsdespite the more frequent use of hypnotics among older women than men in Taiwan. 51 Finally, in order to prevent statistical collinearity, this study only specified one type of psychological distress in each regression model. Hence, cooccurrences of psychological distresses may also confound our main findings, including the sex-specific moderation effect.…”

Using sedatives–hypnotics or opioids in older adults: a narrow path

“…This issue of International Psychogeriatrics contains three papers from three continents that explore the use of sedatives-hypnotics and opioids in the treatment of older adults (Hamina et al, 2018;Machado-Duque et al, 2018;Tseng et al, 2018), and a fourth paper reporting on a qualitative study that addresses the broader question of training needs in dementia in a setting of rapid economic and demographic changes (Xu et al, 2018). Tseng et al (2018) report on a study that examined at a single time-point a community based sample of 3,978 participants aged 65 years and over and living in Taiwan. Use of sedative and hypnotic medications (sleep-promoting benzodiazepines, zolpidem, zopiclone, Western and Chinese herbal medicines, and over the counter drugs) was assessed through a self-report with confirmation where possible from prescription records.…”

“…This issue of International Psychogeriatrics contains three papers from three continents that explore the use of sedatives–hypnotics and opioids in the treatment of older adults (Hamina et al ., 2018; Machado-Duque et al , 2018; Tseng et al , 2018), and a fourth paper reporting on a qualitative study that addresses the broader question of training needs in dementia in a setting of rapid economic and demographic changes (Xu et al ., 2018). …”

“…Tseng et al . (2018) report on a study that examined at a single time-point a community based sample of 3,978 participants aged 65 years and over and living in Taiwan. Use of sedative and hypnotic medications (sleep-promoting benzodiazepines, zolpidem, zopiclone, Western and Chinese herbal medicines, and over the counter drugs) was assessed through a self-report with confirmation where possible from prescription records.…”

“…However, as Tseng et al . (2018) and some guidelines (Baldwin et al ., 2013) acknowledge, some individuals will experience good therapeutic effects from benzodiazepines or z-drugs, and for them the risk–benefit ratio of these drugs will be favorable, at least for a limited time. Some questions that have yet to be addressed are whether there is a specific dose or exposure threshold for benzodiazepines and z-drugs below which risks may not be increased, or whether intermittent use over an extended period is associated with less adverse outcomes than chronic daily use.…”