Abstract
Benzodiazepines produce an anterograde amnesia after acute administration but whether their chronic use is hazardous to memory processes remains unclear. The present study analyses the risk of increasing cognitive complaints with chronic benzodiazepine use. Subjects seeking medical assistance at the General Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic of Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, were interviewed before seeing physicians. They were asked about use of benzodiazepines, history of neurological and psychiatric diseases, use of alcohol, and deficits in remembering and learning as well as age, sex and level of education. Age (over 51 years), low level of education, a history of neurological and psychiatric diseases and use of benzodiazepines showed significant associations with cognitive complaints. After a conditional logistic regression analysis, benzodiazepine use lost its association with memory complaints. These data support the hypothesis that the chronic use of benzodiazepines does not carry a risk for cognitive deficits complaints.
Sommario
Le benzodiazepine, somministrate acutamente, provocano una amnesia anterograda ma il loro effetto sui processi mnesici durante somministrazione cronica è poco chiaro. Il presente studio analizza il rischio di deficit cognitivi dopo uso cronico di benzodiazepine. I soggetti inclusi nello studio sono stati intervistati prima della visita medica ambulatoriale presso il General Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic of Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre.
Il questionario comprendeva domande sull'uso di benzodiazepine, alcool, sulla anamnesi neurologica e psichiatrica, oltre alla rilevazione di età, sesso e scolarità.
Età, basso livello di istruzione, la presenza di antecedenti neurologici e psichiatrici e uso di benzodiazepine hanno mostrato una positiva associazione con la denuncia di disturbi cognitivi. L'analisi mediante regressione logistica condizionata non ha messo in evidenza una correlazione tra uso di benzodiazepine e i deficit mnesici denunciati dai pazienti.
I dati sostengono l'ipotesi che l'uso cronico di benzodiazepine non comporta il rischio di deficit cognitivi.
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Research supported by CNPq (No. 403524/90).
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Chaves, M.L.F., Bianchin, M., Peccin, S. et al. Chronic use of benzodiazepines and cognitive deficit complaints: A risk factor study. Ital J Neuro Sci 14, 429–435 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02339172
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02339172