Source
Service Médical de l'Assurance-Maladie, Caisse Primaire d'Assurance-Maladie de Mulhouse, Direction Régionale du Service Médical d'Alsace-Moselle, Schiltigheim, France. benoit.barthelme@elsm-mulhouse.cnamts.fr
Abstract
CONTEXT:
The anxiety epidemic and its corollary, the widespread prescription of anxiolytics, present a public health problem in view of the risk of addiction to these drugs.
OBJECTIVE:
To assess the level of anxiety and addiction in the borderline population at risk of addiction.
DESIGN:
The study analyzed a series of patients in the third month of their first prescription for anxiolytics. It used two validated scales: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD), and a French scale measuring addiction (the "Echelle Cognitive d'Attachement aux Benzodiazepines" or ECAB).
RESULT:
83% of patients were still anxious at the third month of treatment. 23% had become addicted.
DISCUSSION:
There is a contradiction between the prolonged prescription and use of anxiolytics, which are associated with a risk of addiction, and professional guidelines that recommend short treatment for outpatients using these drugs for the first time.