ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2024
'We need more support and doctors that understand the process of tapering …': A content analysis of free-text responses to a questionnaire on discontinuing long-term benzodiazepine receptor agonist use.
Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of manipulations to pharmaceutical dosage forms used in psychotropic tapering plans.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Perceived Pain Following Hypnotic Deprescribing in Older Adults.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Trial
- Patient experiences of benzodiazepine tapering: a qualitative study of treatment in addiction care.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Pharmacological principles for safe benzodiazepine and Z-drug dose reduction.Psychological medicine · 2026Review
- Benzodiazepine receptor agonist deprescribing principles for long-term use and dependence: modified Delphi recommendations from a multi-disciplinary expert panel.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Barriers to discontinuing benzodiazepine receptor agonists in older adults: a survey of older adults across Europe.Age and ageing · 2025Observational
- 'I Wish It Were More Often Told to People Before They Are Prescribed These Medications How Hard It Is to Get Off Them': A Qualitative Descriptive Analysis of Free-Text Responses to a Survey on Reducing and Stopping Psychiatric Medication.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- 'I haven't discussed anything with anyone': lived experience of long-term users of benzodiazepine receptor agonists regarding their treatment for substance use disorder.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2024Article
- 'We need more support and doctors that understand the process of tapering …': A content analysis of free-text responses to a questionnaire on discontinuing long-term benzodiazepine receptor agonist use.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMany individuals worldwide continue to take benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs) long term (≥3 months). The aim of this study was to conduct a content analysis of the views and experiences of discontinuing long-term BZRA use as documented in the free-text responses of respondents to an online questionnaire examining mediators of behaviour change relating to the discontinuation of long-term BZRA use.
designThe questionnaire was disseminated via online BZRA support groups to community-based adults with either current or previous experience of long-term BZRA use. The four free-text questions focused on (1) barriers and (2) facilitators to discontinuing BZRA use; (3) additional supports required to discontinue BZRA use; and (4) additional comments regarding BZRA use. Response data were analysed using summative content analysis.
resultsThe most commonly reported barrier to BZRA discontinuation related to the consequences of stopping the medication, including withdrawal symptoms and the possibility of return of the original symptoms. The most common facilitator that respondents reported would help them in discontinuing BZRA use was support, primarily from medical professionals. Many respondents reported having been harmed or negatively affected in some way because of BZRA use. Several respondents expressed regret over ever taking BZRAs and/or reported that, with the benefit of hindsight, they should never have taken BZRAs in the first instance.
conclusionThe findings highlight the range of barriers faced by those attempting BZRA discontinuation and the importance of additional supports. Holistic and person-centred approaches are needed to support discontinuation of long-term BZRA use that considers an individual's personal circumstances and wider social context. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: 'Experts by experience' with previous experience of long-term BZRA use were involved in developing the questionnaire and writing the manuscript as collaborators. Individuals with lived experience of taking BZRAs completed the questionnaire.
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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.