This guideline does not apply to those with other sleep disorders or untreated anxiety , depression , or other physical or mental health conditions that might be causing or aggravating insomnia .
Benzodiazepine receptor agonists are associated with harms , and therapeutic effects might be short term .
Tapering BZRAs improves cessation rates compared with usual care without serious harms .
Patients might be more amenable to deprescribing conversations if they underst and the rationale ( potential for harm ) , are involved in developing the tapering plan , and are offered behavioural advice .
OBJECTIVE To develop an evidence -based guideline to help clinicians make decisions about when and how to safely taper and stop benzodiazepine receptor agonists ( BZRAs ) ; to focus on the highest level of evidence available and seek input from primary care professionals in the guideline development , review , and endorsement processes .
Tapering off long-term benzodiazepine use with or without group cognitive-behavioural therapy: three-condition, randomised controlled trial.
BACKGROUND Benzodiazepine withdrawal programmes have never been experimentally compared with a nonintervention control condition . AIMS To evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of tapering off long-term benzodiazepine use in general practice , and to evaluate the value of additional group cognitive-behavioural therapy ( CBT ) . METHOD A 3-month r and omised , 3-month controlled trial was conducted in which 180 people attempting to discontinue long-term benzodiazepine use were assigned to tapering off plus group CBT , tapering off alone or usual care . RESULTS Tapering off led to a significantly higher proportion of successful discontinuations than usual care ( 62 % nu . 21 % ) . Adding group CBT did not increase the success rate ( 58 % v. 62 % ) . Neither successful discontinuation nor intervention type affected psychological functioning . Both tapering strategies showed good feasibilityin general practice . CONCLUSIONS Tapering off is a feasible and effective way of discontinuing long-term benzodiazepine use in general practice . The addition of group CBT is of limited value
This guideline does not apply to those with other sleep disorders or untreated anxiety , depression , or other physical or mental health conditions that might be causing or aggravating insomnia .
Benzodiazepine receptor agonists are associated with harms , and therapeutic effects might be short term .
Tapering BZRAs improves cessation rates compared with usual care without serious harms .
Patients might be more amenable to deprescribing conversations if they underst and the rationale ( potential for harm ) , are involved in developing the tapering plan , and are offered behavioural advice .
OBJECTIVE To develop an evidence -based guideline to help clinicians make decisions about when and how to safely taper and stop benzodiazepine receptor agonists ( BZRAs ) ; to focus on the highest level of evidence available and seek input from primary care professionals in the guideline development , review , and endorsement processes .