New publication: Understanding older adults’ barriers to stopping sleeping medicines
We are pleased to share that our study, Barriers to discontinuing benzodiazepine receptor agonists in older adults: a survey of older adults across Europe, has been published in Age and Ageing!
Understanding patients’ perspectives is essential to developing support that meets their needs. Our study surveyed 183 adults aged 65 and over, recruited from hospitals across six European countries, who used benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRA) for sleep problems.
Key findings:
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59.1% of participants were willing to reduce their medication, and 42.7% were willing to stop, if recommended by their doctor.
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Around half understood why discontinuation might be necessary.
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Barriers included satisfaction with their medication, a perception that side effects were unlikely, fear of stopping, and limited confidence or coping skills.
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A lack of support from physicians or social networks also emerged as a barrier.
The findings reveal both opportunities and challenges: many older adults are open to reducing sleeping medicine use, but willingness alone is not enough. Deprescribing support needs to address patients’ concerns, confidence and practical circumstances.
This research strengthens BE-SAFE’s commitment to developing patient-centred approaches that help older adults participate in decisions about their medicines.
📖 Read more:
➡️ Our publications page
➡️ The published article in Age and Ageing
BE-SAFE in a nutshell
The BE-SAFE project is targeting patient safety by addressing knowledge and practice gaps related to the reduction of medications used for sleep problems in Europe. Experts and patients are involved to promote an interdisciplinary and inter-sectorial approach. BE-SAFE is a European research project funded by the European Commission Horizon programme under the work programme HORIZON-HLTH-2021-CARE-05-01: Enhancing quality of care and patient safety) and by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) (contract No 22.00116). The project duration will be from 2022 to 2027.
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Press contact |
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Prof. Anne Spinewine |
Laura Fernández Maldonado |
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Project coordinator |
Communication Coordinator |
