Benzodiazepine use in Santiago, Chile

Introduction. To describe benzodiazepine use in the adult population from Santiago, Chile and attempt to establish associations with different sociodemographic and medical variables. Method. This is a cross-sectional study whose sampling frame was the adult population, aged 16 to 64 years (n = 3,237,286). The sampling strategy was probabilistic, poly-stage and stratified. Results. A total of 3,870 persons were interviewed. Prevalence of benzodiazepine use was 3.84%. Statistically significant associations were found between benzodiazepine use and gender, age, marital status, income, presence of a common mental disorder and health perception. Discussion. Training of the general practitioner to regulate the use of benzodiazepine is necessary.