Do older people know why they take benzodiazepines? A national French cross‐sectional survey of long‐term consumers

OBJECTIVES: Benzodiazepines and non‐benzodiazepine hypnotics (or Z‐drugs) (BZD/Z) are widely prescribed for older patients despite major side effects and risks when chronically used. The patient's understanding of the treatment is one of the keys to good adherence. The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge of BZD/Z treatment among older people who were taking BZD/Z for the long term by studying the concordance between the declared reason for taking BZD/Z and its indication. METHODS: This was a cross‐sectional, pharmacoepidemiologic ancillary of a national study. Data were collected through a semi‐structured interview. All patients from the main study were included. “Good knowledge” was considered when patients gave an indication for each BZD/Z that was similar to its marketing authorisation. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to adequately determine profiles and characterise associations. RESULTS: More than half of the patients (61.6%) had a good knowledge regarding their treatment. The presence of a psychiatric disorder, a mean duration of BZD/Z use of less than 120 months, a desire to stop treatment, educational status and number and type of BZD/Z used were significantly associated (P < .05) with good knowledge. In the multivariate analysis, only a psychiatric disorder, educational status and taking at least one hypnotic drug were associated with good knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: At the time of shared medical decision, it appears essential to improve the knowledge of the treatment by the patient. The rate of patients with good knowledge of their BZD/Z treatment remains low and even lower than what was previously found in the literature for other drug classes. In contrast to patients with good knowledge, these data highlight the characteristics of patients with poor knowledge of their BZD/Z treatment, which may allow populations at risk to be targeted and enable education measures to be strengthened.