A pooled prescribing percentage can hide large differences in local practice.
A multinational nursing-home study reported benzodiazepine or Z-drug use in more than a quarter of sampled residents, with substantial country differences. The most common agents and the mix of benzodiazepines versus Z-drugs also varied.
The analysis was cross-sectional and could not establish a causal time sequence. Facilities, health systems and patient characteristics may differ, and the sample is not a universal census.
Identify the country, facility context and specific drug before invoking a pooled prevalence. Common prescribing does not establish appropriate prescribing, while an uncommon choice is not automatically improper. Assess the resident’s indication, dose, duration and documented review separately from population frequency.
Source: PMC8077828, supplied full-text paper. Findings are paraphrased; forensic implications are an interpretation.
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