Use of benzodiazepines in the general population and their involvement in acute self-poisoning cases

Benzodiazepines belong to the most widely prescribed group of drugs and are involved in a large proportion of the acute poisonings seen in emergency departments. The aim of the study was to examine whether a relationship exists between the number of poisonings with different types of benzodiazepines and the number of prescriptions for these benzodiazepines. A significant correlation was found between the type of benzodiazepine in cases of acute poisoning seen in the emergency department and (1) the benzodiazepines used as apparent from a sample of the population of the province of East Flanders (Spearman r = 0.70, P = 0.002), (2) benzodiazepine prescriptions made during a period of 7 weeks by 131 general practitioners (r = 0.66, P = 0.039, (3) the number of packages of the different benzodiazepines sold in Belgium (r = 0.69, P = 0.001) and (4) the number of packages sold in Belgium (expressed in DDD; r = 0.58, P = 0.047). This correlation was found despite the differences in age and geographic characteristics of the populations we studied. We observed more poisonings with diazepam, flunitrazepam and lormetazepam than would be expected from the data on their use in the population. The reason is unclear but the faster onset of action of the benzodiazepines may have led to more frequent hospitalization. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.