@article{ref1,
title="Quality of life in a cohort of high-dose benzodiazepine dependent patients",
journal="Drug and alcohol dependence",
year="2014",
author="Lugoboni, Fabio and Mirijello, Antonio and Faccini, Marco and Casari, Rebecca and Cossari, Anthony and Musi, Gessica and Bissoli, Giorgia and Quaglio, Gianluca and Addolorato, Giovanni",
volume="142",
number="",
pages="105-109",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Benzodiazepines (BZD) are among the most widely prescribed drugs in developed countries. Since BZD can produce tolerance and dependence even in a short time, their use is recommended for a very limited time. However, these recommendations have been largely disregarded. The chronic use of BZD causes a number of serious side effects, i.e., cognitive impairment, falls, traffic accidents, dependence and tolerance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate quality of life (QoL) in a cohort of 62 consecutive high-dose BZD-dependent patients seeking a BZD detoxification. <br><br>METHODS: Patients seeking BZD detoxification were evaluated using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the short form-36 questionnaire (SF-36). <br><br>RESULTS: Patients showed a significant reduction of QoL as measured by either SF-36 or GHQ-12. In particular, the greater impairment was observed in the items exploring physical and emotional status. Physical functioning was the item more influenced by the length of BZD abuse. Female patients showed a greater reduction of QoL compared to male, at least in some of the explored items. Social functioning scores were greatly reduced. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows for the first time that high-doses BZD dependent patients have a reduced QoL and a reduced social functioning, along with high levels of psychological distress.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0376-8716",
doi="10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.06.020",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.06.020"
}