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Time trends in prescribing habits of anxiolytics and antidepressants in Slovenian family practices (with emphasis on elderly patients).

The aim of the study was to investigate prescription of anxiolytics and antidepressants among Slovenian family physicians regarding drug class with an emphasis on the elderly population and possible time-trends. Exploratory survey and register-based analysis of anxiolytic and antidepressant prescriptions of one hundred family physicians in Slovenia was performed in 2005 and 2008. Drugs included in the study were classified according to the Anatomical-Therapeutic-Chemical (ATC) drug classification system, and ATC data were used to calculate defined daily doses (DDD) per 1,000 practice population per day. The most often prescribed anxiolytics and antidepressants were identified and anxiolytic/antidepressant ratio was estimation by patient age-group for the two studied years. Benzodiazepines showed highest share in the overall utilization of psychotropic drugs. The ratio between short- and long-acting benzodiazepines decreased by about one tenth during the observed period. Long-acting benzodiazepines were prescribed more often to the older patients. The decrease in anxiolytic/antidepressant ratio from 2005 to 2008 was the smallest in the elderly population. Further research is needed to ascertain the prescribers' attitudes in order to devise strategies to further improve prescribing performance in elderly patients.