Benzodiazepine-receptor agonist prescription in a population of hospitalised patients in four psychogeriatric units in Switzerland.

The aim of this study is to describe the patterns of prescription of benzodiazepine-receptor agonists in hospitalised patients in four psychogeriatric units in Switzerland. This is a retrospective cross-sectional study that included patients aged 65 years or more hospitalised in one of the four psychogeriatric units of a university hospital in Switzerland during 2019. The presence, type and dose of benzodiazepine-receptor agonists was assessed at admission and at discharge.

Increased sexual function after intake of clomethiazole.

An octogenarian woman showed increased sexual function after replacing alprazolam with clomethiazole, a sedative-hypnotic drug commonly prescribed in French-speaking Switzerland for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia in elderly patients. The patient's sexual symptoms did not improve after resuming alprazolam, but disappeared after interrupting clomethiazole, and did not reappear when alprazolam was discontinued. Considering the chronology of the events, increased sexual function was likely a manifestation of the introduction of clomethiazole.