Home > Benzodiazepine use in a methadone maintained opiate dependent cohort in Ireland.

Gilroy, D and O'Brien, S and Barry, Joseph and Ivers, Jo-Hanna H and Whiston, Lucy and Keenan, Eamon and Darker, Catherine D (2014) Benzodiazepine use in a methadone maintained opiate dependent cohort in Ireland. Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems, 16, (2), pp. 23-30.

External website: https://www.heroinaddictionrelatedclinicalproblems...

Background: Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are one of the most widely abused substances by opioid dependent patients. Aim:
This research aims to identify patterns of BZD use in methadone maintained opioid dependent patients attending an addiction treatment clinic in Dublin, Ireland. Methods: Patients (n=78) testing positive for BZDs by urinalysis completed a face-to-face survey.

Results: Daily BZD use was reported by 70.1% (n=54) with 67.9% (n=53) consuming up to 5 tablets a day. A BZD prescription was provided for 50% (n=39) and 61.5% (n=48) used illicit BZDs. The primary BZD of use was Diazepam reported by 93.6% (n=73) of patients. Analysis showed source of BZDs is related to frequency of consumption [χ2(2)= 10.98, p < 0.01] and use of others drugs [χ2(2)= 6.97, p< 0.04].

Conclusion: Source of BZDs is associated with frequency of consumption and use of other drugs. Current patterns of BZD use is between 1 to 5 years which is considerably longer than recommended duration of BZD use.

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Item Type
Article
Publication Type
Irish-related, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
CNS depressants / Sedatives, Opioid, Prescription/Over the counter
Intervention Type
Drug therapy, Treatment method
Date
2014
Page Range
pp. 23-30
Publisher
European Opiate Addiction Treatment Association
Volume
16
Number
2
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