Reducing long-term benzodiazepine use: effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two minimal interventions and development of guidelines for case management

Not provided at time of registration

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN69763877

Enrollment

284

Registered

2004-01-23

Start date

1997-03-24

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2015-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Depression, anxiety, neuroses Mental and Behavioural Disorders Depression

Interventions

1. A brief GP consultation 2. A letter from the GP advising gradual reduction

Eligibility

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Patients on benzodiazepines.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Not provided at time of registration

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Effectiveness in curtailing long term use of benzodiazepines and cost-effectiveness of the two interventions. The main outcome measure was change in BZD intake between the six-month periods before and after the intervention. This was taken from practice prescription records and was available for all 273 patients entering the analysis. BZD intake for each patient was converted to a standard measure of 10 mg diazepam equivalents (Ashton, 1994).	—

Measure

Time frame

Effectiveness in curtailing long term use of benzodiazepines and cost-effectiveness of the two interventions. The main outcome measure was change in BZD intake between the six-month periods before and after the intervention. This was taken from practice prescription records and was available for all 273 patients entering the analysis. BZD intake for each patient was converted to a standard measure of 10 mg diazepam equivalents (Ashton, 1994).

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
A subsidiary outcome measure was whether or not the patient was a "true reducer", defined as having reduced BZD intake by a quarter or more, including those who had stopped intake completely.	—

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026