Prevalence of Benzodiazepines Misuse in Ubon Ratchathani Province Thailand
Sukdepat Puangkot MPH*, Wongsa Laohasiriwong PhD**, Jiamjit Saengsuwan PhD***, Isara Chiawiriyabunya MD***
Affiliation : * Faculty of Public Health, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand ** Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand *** Faculty of Nursing, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand **** Drug Dependence Treatment Center, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Background : Benzodiazepines misuse, abuse, and dependence is becoming a new problem in medicine used in Thailand.
Objective : Study the prevalence of benzodiazepines use, misuse, abuse, and dependence in Ubon Ratchathani province
Thailand.
Material and Method: A cross-sectional household survey was conducted between October 2008 and June 2009. The target
population were the people age 15 and above. A sample size of 2,280 was selected from three stage stratified random
sampling. Benzodiazepines were identified with generic name and drug characteristics. The DSM-IV questionnaires were
used to define misuse, abuse, and dependence. Dependence was interpreted with judgment of a psychiatric nurse. For
statistical analyses, prevalence was estimated with weight adjustment, variances estimated by Teylor Series Linearization
method, and interpreted with 95% CI.
Results : There were 46,805 current users [3.9% (95% CI: 2.2-6.4)], 26,404 misuser [2.2% (95% CI: 1.6-6.2)], 7,203
abuser [0.6% (95% CI: 0.1-4.1)] and 2,402 dependent [0.2% (95% CI: 0.1-9.2)]. When considering the group of current
user, the results showed that 57.2% of this group misused, 16.6% abused and 5.9% were dependent.
Conclusion : Prevalence of use was higher than previously reported in Thailand while more than half of the current users
misused. Surveillance of misuse should be done in the group of current user. Medical professional should give recommendations
to patients, focusing on harm of misuse. Furthermore, they should limit the amount of medicine when it is necessary to
dispense.
Keywords : Benzodiazepines (BZDs), Misuse, Abuse, Dependence, Prevalence
