USE OF BENZODIAZEPINES AND BENZODIAZEPINE-RELATED DRUGS IN THE ELDERLY POPULATION AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS

Introduction: Drugs Benzodiazepinic (BZD) in the anxiolytics, sedative-hypnotics group, have four key activities: anxiolytic, hypnotic, anticonvulsant and muscle relaxers. The action of the BZD and BZD-related drugs involves binding to GABA complex in the BZD receptor, located in the neuronal membranes in the central nervous system causing the chloro channel opening. Literature Review: We conducted research on-line in the databases of the services of periodicals PubMed with the keywords: use, benzodiazepines, elderly. Population base articles bealized with elderly samples, prevalence or incidence of BZD or BZD-related drugs were selected. There was 6.1% to 27.6% use of BZD and/or BZD-related in the elderly population. The associated factor was the female gender and skin color white. The state of self-reported health reported in some research were poor or fair, the self-reported diseases were hypertension (46.2%), self-reported  nervous or emotional disorder (36.9%), coronary artery disease (26%), diabetes mellitus (24.5%). Also found use of more drugs among users of consumed BZD that non-users (OR: 3.1-5.2). The drugs most frequently used were alprazolam (21-37%), lorazepam (14-36%) e diazepam (1,7-18%). Conclusion: The prevalence of BZD in the elderly were 6,1-21,7%. Were significantly more likely to use BZD be female and uses more drugs than nonusers.