Background: Benzodiazepines are widely used in the treatment of anxiety disorders and sleep disturbances, but negative cognitive side effects have been reported after long-term use. Studies on the cognitive effects of long-term benzodiazepine use to date have typically included small samples and limited cognitive assessments. Objectives: This study examined cognitive performance on four cognitive domains in long-term benzodiazepine users, compared to normative data. Furthermore, it was examined whether sex, age, benzodiazepine dose, and state and trait anxiety moderated cognitive functioning in long-term benzodiazepine users. Methods: Neuropsychological tests targeting different cognitive domains were administered to 92 patients with long-term benzodiazepine use who were accepted for enrolment into a benzodiazepine discontinuation programme in an academic hospital. Test scores were compared to a large normative data sample. Results: Of the long-term benzodiazepine users, 20.7% could be classified as cognitively impaired across all domains, with the largest effects found in the domains processing speed and sustained attention, and an overall worse performance in women, an effect which appears to be moderated by state anxiety. No effects of age or benzodiazepine dose were found. Conclusions: These results extend those of earlier studies on benzodiazepine effects on specific cognitive domains. This study implies an overall detrimental cognitive effect in long-term benzodiazepine users rather than specific effects. Therefore, long-term benzodiazepine use should be avoided, and once present, tailored interventions aimed at tapering benzodiazepines are warranted.
Eur Addict Res

中文翻译：

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长期苯二氮卓类药物使用者的认知功能

背景：苯二氮卓类药物广泛用于治疗焦虑症和睡眠障碍，但据报道长期使用后会产生负面的认知副作用。迄今为止，关于长期使用苯二氮卓类药物的认知影响的研究通常包括小样本和有限的认知评估。目的：本研究与规范数据相比，检查了长期苯二氮卓类药物使用者在四个认知领域的认知表现。此外，还检查了性别、年龄、苯二氮卓类药物剂量以及状态和特质焦虑是否会减轻长期苯二氮卓类药物使用者的认知功能。方法：对 92 名长期使用苯二氮卓类药物的患者进行了针对不同认知领域的神经心理学测试，这些患者被接受参加一家学术医院的苯二氮卓类药物停用计划。测试分数与大型规范数据样本进行了比较。结果：在长期苯二氮卓类药物使用者中，20.7% 的人在所有领域都被归类为认知障碍，在这些领域的处理速度和持续注意力影响最大，女性整体表现较差，这种影响似乎是由状态焦虑缓和。未发现年龄或苯二氮卓剂量的影响。结论：这些结果扩展了早期关于苯二氮卓类药物对特定认知领域影响的研究。这项研究暗示了长期苯二氮卓类药物使用者的总体有害认知影响，而不是具体影响。因此，应避免长期使用苯二氮卓类药物，一旦出现，就需要采取旨在逐渐减少苯二氮卓类药物的定制干预措施。
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