Socioeconomic status and benzodiazepine and Z-drug prescribing: a cross-sectional study of practice-level data in England.

BACKGROUND: Benzodiazepines and Z-drugs (such as zopiclone) are widely prescribed in primary care. Given their association with addiction and dependence, understanding where and for whom these medications are being prescribed is a necessary step in addressing potentially harmful prescribing.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is an association between primary care practice benzodiazepine and Z-drug prescribing and practice population socioeconomic status in England.

METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. An aggregated data set was created to include primary care prescribing data for 2017, practice age and sex profiles and practice Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) scores-a marker of socioeconomic status. Drug doses were converted to their milligram-equivalent of diazepam to allow comparison. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the association between IMD and prescribing (for all benzodiazepines and Z-drugs in total, and individually), adjusting for practice sex (% male) and older age (>65 years) distribution (%).

RESULTS: Benzodiazepine and Z-drug prescribing overall was positively associated with practice-level IMD score, with more prescribing in practices with more underserved patients, after adjusting for age and sex (P < 0.001), although the strength of the association varied by individual drug. Overall, however, IMD score, age and sex only explained a small proportion of the overall variation in prescribing across GP practices.

CONCLUSION: Our findings may, in part, be a reflection of an underlying association between the indications for benzodiazepine and Z-drug prescribing and socioeconomic status. Further work is required to more accurately define the major contributors of prescribing variation.