Clinical Research Directory

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Psychoeducational Intervention on Benzodiazepine Use in the Population Over 64 Years Old in Primary Care

The goal of this pragmatic, multicenter, randomized controlled trial is to determine whether a multidisciplinary psychoeducational intervention combined with therapeutic exercise is more effective than a minimal educational intervention alone in helping older adults with long-term benzodiazepine use discontinue or reduce their medication. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does the multidisciplinary intervention increase the proportion of participants who completely discontinue benzodiazepine treatment? Does the intervention reduce the weekly benzodiazepine dose compared with the minimal intervention alone? Researchers compared a minimal educational intervention ("Benzocarta") with the same intervention plus an 8-week multidisciplinary psychoeducational program and supervised therapeutic exercise. Participants: received a personalized educational letter from their family physician explaining the risks of long-term benzodiazepine use and providing guidance for gradual dose reduction; were randomly assigned either to the control group (minimal intervention only) or to the intervention group (minimal intervention plus psychoeducational sessions and therapeutic exercise); were followed for 6 and 18 months after the initial intervention to assess benzodiazepine discontinuation and changes in weekly dose.