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The Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptom Questionnaire: psychometric evaluation during a discontinuation program in depressed chronic benzodiazepine users in general practice
Author(s) -
Couvée Jaap E.,
Zitman Frans G.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00081.x
Subject(s) - benzodiazepine , discontinuation , psychology , withdrawal syndrome , construct validity , psychiatry , concurrent validity , clinical psychology , psychometrics , internal consistency , medicine , anesthesia , receptor
Background The Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptom Questionnaire (BWSQ, Tyrer et al. 1990) has been developed to measure distinct features of the benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. However, psychometric evaluations of this questionnaire are scarce. Aims, setting To evaluate the BWSQ during a discontinuation program carried out by general practitioners in 230 depressed chronic benzodiazepine users. Findings Reliability coefficients during the program were between 0.84 and 0.88 and the test‐retest correlations were between 0.75 and 0.88 during withdrawal. Mean scores of the BWSQ during withdrawal differentiated between completers and failures ( p = 0.036). The factor structure underlying the items consisted of perceptual and sensory disturbances, dysphoric mood, muscular pain and memory loss. Low scores during the last phase of tapering off predicted no, or limited, use of benzodiazepines in the first years following discontinuation ( p = 0.003). Conclusions We found the BWSQ to measure symptoms during benzodiazepine withdrawal in a reliable way. Our findings indicate some construct validity for BWSQ. Low scores during withdrawal predict more limited future use of benzodiazepines.