PATIENTS FORMERLY PRESCRIBED TRIAZOLAM - A STUDY IN GENERAL-PRACTICE

Objective: To discover whether patients who had formerly been prescribed triazolam continued to take psychotropic medication after its withdrawal. Method: 11 general practitioners provided details of the psychotropic medication of their patients who had previously been prescribed triazolam, 12 month after its withdrawal from Britain. Results: 70 of 91 patients (77%) were still taking regular hypnotics twelve months after the drug was withdrawn. Success at withdrawal was linked to lower doses of triazolam but did not depend upon age or sex. Conclusions: The withdrawal of triazolam resulted in a proportion of patients stopping hypnotics that is comparable with other interventions to reduce psychotropic consumption in general practice. Most patients continued to take hypnotics, which suggests that the withdrawal of a drug will usually lead to the substitution of a similar one when one is available.