ReviewEuropean geriatric medicine2023
Therapeutic dilemmas with benzodiazepines and Z-drugs: insomnia and anxiety disorders versus increased fall risk: a clinical review.
Review in European geriatric medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inhalation aromatherapy for the treatment of comorbid insomnia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Fall-Risk-Increasing drugs and falls in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective cohort study in a single Danish municipality.European geriatric medicine · 2026Article
- Ophthalmic and psychiatric health: the overlooked connection between ocular diseases and mental disorders.Eye (London, England) · 2026Review
- [Performance-related substance use in everyday life and work].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2026Review
- The combined association of STOPPFall medication use and orthostatic blood pressure abnormalities with future falls and fractures in community-dwelling older people.European geriatric medicine · 2026Article
- Development of Sleep medications MYTH-understanding (SMYTH) and Sleep Medications Overexpectation of REsponses (SMORE) among the general population.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2026Article
- Supporting General Practitioners to Deprescribe Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs in Primary Care: Findings From a Modified Delphi Study.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2026Article
- Epidemiological Assessment of Benzodiazepine Dependence via Pharmacist-Led EMR Review in Pain and Palliative Care Institution.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Impact of Pre-existing Psychiatric Conditions on Trauma Outcomes: A National Analysis.HCA healthcare journal of medicine · 2026Article
- Comparative pharmacovigilance of non-benzodiazepine receptor agonists versus dual orexin receptor antagonists for insomnia in older adults.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Benefits and Liabilities of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs: What We Know and What We Don't Know.Drugs · 2026Review
- Computational analysis of therapeutic potential for simplifiedFrontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Exploratory prescribing risk profiles and drug drug interaction burden in older adults with depressive episodes.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Gomisin E attenuates pentobarbital-induced sleep deficits in aging-related insomnia: anFrontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Development and validation of a deprescribing tool relevant to older persons in India using modified Delphi consensus technique.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Current and novel dual orexin receptor antagonists for the treatment of insomnia: the emergence of vornorexant.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Review
- Sedative-hypnotic drug use and risk of falls and fractures in elderly patients: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Long-Term Use of Benzodiazepines and Related Drugs in Persons With Major Depressive Disorder.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Anticholinergic and Sedative Medication Burden in Croatian Older Adults: EuroAgeism Cohort Findings.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Patterns of Benzodiazepines and Hypnotic Drugs Dispensing After Hip Fracture Among Older US Adults Previously on the Drugs.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe aim of this clinical review was to summarise the existing knowledge on fall risk associated with benzodiazepines (BZDs) and Z-drugs in older people with focus on appropriate prescribing, including deprescribing.
methodsWe conducted a literature search in June 2021 in PubMed and Embase with citation and reference checking. Personal reference libraries and international websites were also used. Keywords for the searches included "benzodiazepines", "Z-drugs", "falls", "deprescribing", "fall-risk-increasing-drugs", "inappropriate prescribing", "older people" and matching synonyms. We discuss use of BZDs and Z-drugs, potential fall-related adverse reactions, alternatives for and deprescribing of BZDs and Z-drugs in older persons.
resultsBZDs and Z-drugs differ in fall-related adverse effect profile. They contribute to fall risk through orthostatic hypotension, dizziness and/or imbalance, sedation, muscular weakness, ataxia, etc. Fall incidents contribute significantly to mortality and morbidity. Therefore, there is a need for appropriate prescribing and use of BZDs and Z-drugs in older people. In practice, this means pertaining to a strict indication, strongly consider to non-pharmacological alternatives, limit use to the lowest dose and the shortest duration possible. Judicious deprescribing should be considered and encouraged as well. Practical resources, tools and algorithms are available to guide and assist clinicians in deprescribing BZDs and Z-drugs.
conclusionsPrescribing BZDs and Z-drugs should be done in a well-considered way in fall-prone older people. A good overview and insight in the fall-related adverse effects of these drugs, as well as the availability of different strategies to increase the appropriate use, including deprescribing initiatives, can assist clinicians in clinical decision-making.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.