Benzodiazepine prescribing guideline adherence and misuse potential in Irish minors

Background: The Good Prescribing Practice for Clinicians guidelines were published in 2002 in Ireland to guide General Practitioners about prescribing benzodiazepines. There has been no research to-date to measure compliance by General Practitioners. Inappropriate prescribing to minors may result in increased use or misuse of benzodiazepines. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prescribing of benzodiazepines to minors in Ireland against the Good Prescribing Practice for Clinicians guidelines. Method: Data for medicines dispensed between January 2009 and December 2012 from the Health Intelligence Ireland database were accessed and analysed. This database contains information about government-subsidised community-pharmacy-dispensed medicines. Results: Benzodiazepine prescribing to minors increased by 10.2 % between 2009 and 2012. Almost 15 % of patients (n = 2193) were prescribed benzodiazepines for greater than four weeks; which contravenes the guidelines. Approximately half (51.4 %) of prescribers who contravened this guideline, prescribed all their benzodiazepines in quantities of greater than one week, against the recommendations of the guidelines. Conclusion: The consequences of prescribing against National Guidelines can result in patients who become long-term benzodiazepine users and thus place an increased burden upon the healthcare system. The reasons for non-compliance by GPs should be investigated to find solutions.