A Chinese community study found benzodiazepines were prescribed more often in the urban sample after adjustment.
The study interviewed 993 people with schizophrenia living in rural or urban communities. Urban patients were more frequently prescribed benzodiazepines, clozapine and antipsychotic combinations, while anticholinergic prescribing was more frequent in the rural sample.
The observational comparison cannot separate every influence of illness, access, clinician practice, socioeconomic conditions or available services. The sampling periods also differed, and prescriptions did not demonstrate actual ingestion or comparative benefit. Greater benzodiazepine use should not automatically be labeled either better access or overprescribing. The paper identifies a contextual difference warranting investigation. Evaluating one patient requires the symptoms, indication, duration, administration and response rather than inferring appropriateness from an urban or rural address.
Original analysis of the supplied journal article, identified as PMC6683468.