Background: Primary care interventions that promote cessation of benzodiazepine (BZD) use in long-term users are effective at 1 year, but their efficacy at 3 years is uncertain.
Aim: To assess the 3-year efficacy of two primary care interventions delivered by GPs on cessation of BZD use in long-term users.
Design and setting: Multicentre, three-arm, cluster randomised, controlled trial, with random allocation at the GP level.
Method: Seventy-five GPs and 532 patients were randomly allocated to three groups: usual care (control), structured intervention with stepped-dose reduction and follow-up visits (SIF), or structured intervention with written stepped-dose reduction (SIW). The primary outcome was BZD use at 36 months.
Results: At 36 months, 66/168 patients (39.2%) in the SIW group, 79/191 patients (41.3%) in the SIF group, and 45/173 patients (26.0%) in the control group had discontinued BZD use. The relative risks (RR) adjusted by cluster were 1.51 (95% CI = 1.10 to 2.05; P = 0.009) in the SIW group and 1.59 (95% CI = 1.15 to 2.19; P = 0.005) in the SIF group. A total of 131/188 patients (69.7%) who successfully discontinued BZD use at 12 months remained abstinent at 36 months. The groups showed no significant differences in anxiety, depression, or sleep dissatisfaction at 36 months.
Conclusion: The interventions were effective on cessation of BZD use; most patients who discontinued at 12 months remained abstinent at 3 years. Discontinuation of BZD use did not have a significant effect on anxiety, depression, or sleep quality.
Keywords: adverse effects; benzodiazepine; general practice; primary health care; withdrawal symptoms.
© British Journal of General Practice 2016.