Comparing Z drugs with benzodiazepines according to patients' characteristics and treatment factors
| Z druga | Benzodiazepine | χ2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number (n = 370) | (%) | Number (n = 268) | (%) | P-value | |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 122 | (33.0) | 77 | (28.7) | 0.23 |
| Female | 198 | (53.5)b | 145 | (54.1) | |
| Age, years | |||||
| 18–44 | 42 | (11.4) | 22 | (8.2) | 0.012 |
| 45–64 | 118 | (31.9) | 65 | (24.3) | |
| 65–84 | 147 | (39.7) | 120 | (44.8) | |
| 85+ | 19 | (5.1) | 27 | (10.1) | |
| First prescriber | |||||
| GP | 320 | (86.5) | 242 | (90.3) | 0.027 |
| Psychiatrist | 34 | (9.2) | 13 | (4.9) | |
| Duration of treatment | |||||
| Up to 4 weeks | 13 | (3.5) | 10 | (3.7) | 0.27 |
| 4–52 weeks | 64 | (17.3) | 32 | (11.9) | |
| Over 1 year | 286 | (77.3) | 225 | (84.0) | |
| Medication type | |||||
| Repeat prescription | 339 | (91.6) | 248 | (92.5) | 0.87 |
| Acute (one-off) prescription | 24 | (6.5) | 19 | (7.1) | |
| Frequency of taking medication | |||||
| Daily | 246 | (66.5) | 186 | (69.4) | 0.41 |
| As needed | 120 | (32.4) | 79 | (29.4) | |
| Advised about side-effects | |||||
| Yes | 157 | (42.4) | 121 | (45.1) | 0.54 |
| Not sure | 92 | (24.9) | 57 | (21.2) | |
| No | 108 | (29.2) | 82 | (30.6) | |
| Would like to come off medicatior | |||||
| Yes | 84 | (22.7) | 33 | (12.3) | 0.001c |
| No | 254 | (68.6) | 211 | (78.7) | |
| Tried to come off medication | |||||
| Yes | 194 | (52.4) | 110 | (41.0) | 0.001c |
| No | 141 | (38.1) | 137 | (51.1) | |
| Dependency | |||||
| Dependent | 161 | (43.5) | 126 | (47.0) | 0.01 |
| At risk of becoming dependent | 53 | (14.3) | 18 | (6.7) | |
| Not dependent | 125 | (33.8) | 101 | (37.7) | |
| Improvement in insomnia | |||||
| Yes | 317 | (85.7) | 239 | (89.2) | 0.012 |
| No | 39 | (10.5) | 13 | (14.5) | |