TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Quality of life in a cohort of high-dose benzodiazepine dependent patients
JO  - Drug and alcohol dependence
A1  - Lugoboni, Fabio
A1  - Mirijello, Antonio
A1  - Faccini, Marco
A1  - Casari, Rebecca
A1  - Cossari, Anthony
A1  - Musi, Gessica
A1  - Bissoli, Giorgia
A1  - Quaglio, Gianluca
A1  - Addolorato, Giovanni
SP  - 105
EP  - 109
VL  - 142
IS  - 
N2  - 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 0376-8716
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.06.020
ID  - ref1
ER  -