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Long-term outcome of two forms of randomised benzodiazepine discontinuation

Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen

W. J. M. J. GORGELS, MD

Department of General Practice and Family Medicine, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen

A. J. J. MOL, MSc

Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen

A. J. L. M. VAN BALKOM, MD, PhD

Department of Psychiatry and Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam

J. MULDER, Ing and E. H. VAN DE LISDONK, MD, PhD

Department of General Practice and Family Medicine, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen

M. H. M. BRETELER, PhD

Department of Clinical Psychology and Personality, Radboud University, Nijmegen

F.G. ZITMAN, MD, PhD

Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands

Correspondence: Dr R. C. Oude Voshaar, Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Centre Nijmegen, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. E-mail: r.oudevoshaar{at}psy.umcn.nl

Declaration of interest None.

Summary About two-thirds of long-term users of benzodiazepines in the population are able to discontinue this drug with the aid of supervised programmes for tapering off. Little is known about the long-term outcome of such programmes, and they have never been compared with usual care. After a 15-month follow-up of a randomised controlled trial comparing such a programme with and without psychotherapy with usual care, we found significantly higher longitudinal abstinence rates in long-term benzodiazepine users who received a benzodiazepine tapering-off programme without psychotherapy (25 out of 69, 36%) compared withthose who received usual care (5 out of 33,15%; P=0.03).