The objective of the present study was to examine characteristics of benzodiazepine (BZD) users, as well as try to identify predictors of continuing BZD use. Health-related data were collected twice on the same sample of Canadians two years apart. Drug use was based on the question: What medications did you take over the last two days? variables used were age, sex, education, marital status, chronic conditions, non-BZD drug use, health status and pain level. Of the 11,624 respondents, 371 (3.2%) reported taking BZDs in 1994. Logistic regression results showed that the highest odds of BZD use were for antidepressant users (OR=10.7, P<0.05), followed by poor health (OR=5.0, P<0.05), pain (OR=3.9, P<0.05) and chronic conditions (OR=3.2, P<0.05). Of the 371 individuals who reported BZD use in 1994, 198 (53.4%) reported BZD use in 1996. Logistic regression showed that none of the variables mentioned above showed a significant association with continuing (including gaps in use) BZD use in 1996. Regarding individual BZDs, it could not be concluded definitively that any BZD is more likely to show continued use than any other, but the possibility of a linear relationship between the proportion of continued use and the half-life of the BZD should be investigated further. Thus, the main predictive factor for continuing use of BZD, as shown by this study, is that of previous use. Whenever a BZD is prescribed, regardless of whether it is a new or repeat prescription, it should be remembered that the likelihood of continuing use is considerable.
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