Prevalence of Misuse, Abuse, and Dependence

Prevalence of benzodiazepine use and abuse can be estimated by national and cross-national sutveys of the general population and of populations in medical clinics, psychiatric institutions, and chemical dependency tteatment units. 

Source. From the results of the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 2003). 

Marks (1978) reviewed published reports of benzodia2epine dependence in the literature from 1961 to 1977 and estimated that benzodiazepine dependence occurred in one case per 50 million patient-months of use. His assessment of risk has been criticized, however, because published case reports tend to occur less frequently than the phenomenon they describe. Benzodiazepine dependence case reports peaked between 1969 and 1973, about 10 years after the introduction of the drugs (Petursson and Lader 1981a). 

In the absence of a diagnosis of substance abuse, most patients taking benzodiazepines continue to benefit ftom treatment over extended periods of 

Medical use of benzodiazepines has been declining. Prescribing trends show an overall decline in the number of all benzodiazepine prescriptions written, with a market shift to increased prescribing of short elimination half-life agents (lorazepam, alprazolam), compared with long-elimination half-life agents (diazepam, chlordiazepoxide) (Ciraulo et al. 2004). In 2001, alprazolam was the most widely prescribed benzodiazepine (Ciraulo et al. 2004), and it also was the most widely prescribed psychiatric medication in that year for mood and anxiety disorders (Stahl 2002). 

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