TY - JOUR T1 - Trends in the prescription of drugs used for insomnia in Australian general practice, 2011-2018 JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract DO - 10.3399/BJGP.2021.0054 SP - BJGP.2021.0054 AU - Mumtaz Begum AU - David Gonzalez-Chica AU - Carla Bernardo AU - Amelia Woods AU - Nigel Stocks Y1 - 2021/04/27 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/early/2021/04/29/BJGP.2021.0054.abstract N2 - Background: Despite an increase in the prevalence of sleep problems, few studies have investigated changes in the prescribing of drugs often used for managing insomnia. Aim: To explore changes in the pattern of benzodiazepine (BZD), z-drugs (zolpidem, zopiclone) and non-BZD prescriptions. Design and Setting: Open cohort study including 1,773,525 patients (55,903,294 consultations) regularly attending 404 Australian general practices from 2011-2018 (MedicineInsight). Method: Prescription rates per 1,000 consultations, the proportion of repeat prescriptions above recommendations, and the proportion of prescriptions for patients with a recent recorded insomnia diagnosis (i.e. within 2 years) were analysed using adjusted regression models. Results: Rates of BZD, z-drugs and non-BZD prescriptions were 56.6, 4.4 and 15.5/1,000 consultations in 2011 and 41.8, 3.5 and 21.5/1000 consultations in 2018, respectively. Temazepam represented 25.3% of the prescriptions and diazepam 21.9%. All BZD and zolpidem prescriptions declined from 2011-2018 [annual change varying from -1.4% to -10.8%], while non-BZD and zopiclone prescriptions increased in the same period [annual change: +5.0% to +22.6%]. Repeat prescriptions above recommendations remained below 10% for most medications, except melatonin (64.5%), zolpidem (63.3%), zopiclone (31.4%) and alprazolam (13.3%). In 2018, almost 50% of z-drugs and melatonin prescriptions were for patients with insomnia. There was 3.2%-5.9% annual increase in the proportion of prescriptions associated with a recently recorded insomnia diagnosis. Conclusion: Overall, BZD prescriptions in Australia declined from 2011-2018. However, the prescription of some of these drugs increased for patients with a recently recorded insomnia diagnosis. This is concerning because of potential adverse effects and risk of dependence. ER -