A questionnaire-based dependence classification adds patient experience, but remains distinct from a complete diagnosis of misuse or addiction.
The descriptive Mexican outpatient study administered the BDEPQ-MX during benzodiazepine dispensing and linked responses with clinical records. Among 181 patients, 59.7% met the study’s dependence criteria. Longer exposure was a principal correlate, and alprazolam was more represented in higher-dependence categories. The institution provided pain and palliative-care services, but the methods identified no palliative-setting patients requiring these medicines in the evaluated sample.
The single-center observational design cannot establish that duration independently caused dependence. Self-report can be affected by stigma, interpretation and incomplete records. A screening instrument complements rather than replaces assessment of withdrawal, indication, behavior and functional consequences. The institutional name should not be used to imply that the results describe terminal-care prescribing.
In a prescription review, distinguish physical adaptation, perceived need, difficulty reducing and harmful use. A long prescription history or questionnaire cut-off cannot alone establish intoxication at an event or intentional misuse. The study supports obtaining the patient’s experience alongside the dispensing record. Individual interpretation needs exposure duration, symptoms, attempted changes and clinical context, with the classification and its limits stated clearly.
Source: PMC12821747, supplied full-text paper. Findings are paraphrased; forensic implications are an interpretation.
Related: A Portuguese Benzodiazepine-Dependence Questionnaire Was Validated in a Selected Population.