BackgroundAnxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives are commonly used psychotropic drugs. The consumption of these medicines needs careful monitoring as they may have important side effects, such as addiction and reduced alertness. An appropriate use of psychotropic drugs presupposes that people are aware of the reason for taking them. This contribution explores the reasons people report for using these drugs and investigates factors associated with incorrect beliefs or no knowledge about the purpose of taking them.MethodsThe Belgian health interview survey 2008 collected information on all medicines used by the respondents 24 hours prior to the interview. For each medicine, respondents were asked for which purpose they had taken it. The reasons to take anxiolytics (ATC N05B) and hypnotics or sedatives (ATC N05C) were explored for the population aged 15 years and older (n = 8335), excluding proxy interviews. Using the indicated psychotropic drugs for complaints other than sleeping problems, stress, depressive disorder, anxiety, musculoskeletal tension and pain, and atypical psychological complaints was regarded as an incorrect belief. Factors associated with incorrect beliefs or no knowledge were studied through logistic regression.Results8,6% of the population used a hypnotic, sedative or anxiolytic in the 24 hrs prior to the interview. The main reported reasons for using these drugs were sleeping problems (51,5%), stress (24,3%) anxiety (13,4%) and depression (5,7%). In 7,2% of the cases, the reason for taking the drug was unknown or incorrect. Incorrect and lack of knowledge was associated with use of an anxiolytic versus a hypnotic or sedative (OR 3,2; 95%CI 1,9-5,4), being older than 65 yrs old (OR 2,3; 95%CI 1,1-5,0), living in an institution for elderly (OR 3,5; 95%CI 1,2-10,5) and polypharmacy (OR 2,1; 95%CI 1,1-4,0). No association was found with gender, education and cognitive function.ConclusionMost respondents give a plausible explanation for the purpose of using an anxiolytic and hypnotic or sedative. This is less the case for older people, especially those who live in institutions. Inappropriate use of these drugs is mainly a problem in this age group. More efforts are needed to inform also older people of the reason why they use psychotropic drugs.
