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High dose benzodiazepines prolong reaction times in chronic users who have major depressive and/or anxiety disorders
Author(s) -
Manthey Leonie,
LoenenFrösch Fawzia,
Giltay Erik J.,
Veen Tineke,
Glashouwer Klaske,
Penninx Brenda W. J. H.,
Zitman Frans G.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.216
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1365-2125
pISSN - 0306-5251
DOI - 10.1111/bcp.12224
Subject(s) - anxiety , medicine , observational study , confounding , antidepressant , depression (economics) , psychopathology , adverse effect , psychiatry , economics , macroeconomics
Aim Short term administration of benzodiazepines ( BZD ) was found to prolong reaction time ( RT ) in experimental studies. However, studies on long term BZD use did not always adjust for important confounders and showed inconsistent results. We aimed to identify a possible relationship between long term BZD use and RT in BZD users in this large cross‐sectional, observational study. Methods The RTs of non‐users ( n = 2404) were compared with low ( n = 288), intermediate ( n = 74), and high dose BZD users ( n = 57) in the N etherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety ( NESDA ). RTs were obtained from the Implicit Association Test. Analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, health indicators, severity of psychopathology and antidepressant use. Results Of the NESDA participants, 419 subjects (14.8%) used BZDs . A higher dose of BZDs was associated with prolonged RTs ( P = 0.01). When comparing the different dose groups, the high dose group, but not the low and medium dose groups, had significantly longer RTs than the non‐users. Conclusions Tolerance for the RT prolonging effect of relatively high doses of BZDs does not seem to develop. As prolonged RTs can have adverse consequences in daily life, BZDs should be prescribed conservatively at the lowest possible dose.