IMPAIRMENT OF PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATED WITH LONG-TERM USE OF BENZODIAZEPINES

The long-term effects of benzodiazepines (BDZ) on psychomotor and cogn itive functions were assessed in 28 outpatients, users of low therapeu tic doses of diazepam (13.6+/-4.9mg/day, range: 5-20mg/day) for 5-20 y ears (10.1+/-5.0 years). These patients' performance was compared with two control groups: 53 BDZ-free anxious outpatients and 56 healthy vo lunteers. The three groups were similar in sex, age and education. BDZ chronic users were tested before and after short-term (3 weeks) and l ong-term discontinuation (at an average of 10 months). Performance of chronic users of BDZ was consistently worse than those of the control groups, suggesting an impairment in these patients on both psychomotor and cognitive functions. These were not related to either dose or cum ulative exposure to BDZ, and were also independent of diagnosis and le vels of anxiety and depression. Moreover, these deficits were persiste nt as their performance failed to improve after drug discontinuation.