Sedative‐hypnotic prescription in an out‐patient mental health service in the north‐west

Sedative‐hypnotic medications are commonly abused prescription drugs, which are commonly prescribed by psychiatrists. We aimed at studying benzodiazepine and related drug prescriptions among patients attending psychiatric out‐patient clinics of a hospital in East Lancashire. A total of 6.2 per cent of patients who attended the department in one representative week were prescribed benzodiazepine/related drugs. A majority of these had anxiety disorders, and anxiety was the major indication for prescription of these drugs. Diazepam, temazepam and related drugs like zopiclone/zolpidem were the most commonly prescribed. Most subjects had been on the drug for one to 12 months. The prescriptions were not in keeping with the BNF guidelines in most cases. The findings do not support the hypothesis of an unduly high prevalence of sedative prescriptions in this setting. The results highlight a need for complete documentation of various aspects of benzodiazepine prescriptions.