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Are there gender differences in the prescribing of hypnotic medications for insomnia?
Author(s) -
Brownlee K.,
Devins G. M.,
Flanigan M.,
Fleming J. A. E.,
Morehouse R.,
Moscovitch A.,
Plamondon J.,
Reinish L.,
Shapiro C. M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.452
Subject(s) - zopiclone , insomnia , pharmacy , medicine , medical prescription , psychiatry , hypnotic , marital status , family medicine , population , pharmacology , environmental health
Gender differences in the prescribing patterns of general classes of medications for insomnia were examined. The classes of medications included: zopiclone, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antihistamines and no medication. The sample comprised a sub‐set of respondents from 2620 questionnaires of the Canadian Multicentre Sleep Database. Respondents for this database were contacted through physicians, announcements in the media and local pharmacies. The results indicated that gender alone was not associated with differential prescribing for insomnia, nor was gender associated with patterns of medication use such as frequency of taking medication, length of use, taking more or less medication than prescribed or attempts to stop taking medication. Demographic factors were included in the analysis and age and marital status were associated with different prescribing patterns for men and women with insomnia. It is possible that physicians refer to stereotypic expectations when prescribing hypnotics. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.