[Impact benzodiazepine dependence on the use of health services: senior' health study].

Context: Prolonged use of benzodiazepines increases the risk of addiction. The impact of this disease on the use of health services by older adults is not known.

Objective: Examine the association between benzodiazepine dependence and use of health services by older adults in Quebec.

[Impact of benzodiazepine dependence on the use of health services: study of the health of seniors].

Background: The use of benzodiazepines is common among seniors. This consumption can cause an addiction whose criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition revised (DSM-IV-TR) do not always apply to the situation of the elderly. This research seeks to examine the link between the feeling of benzodiazepine dependence and the use of health services by seniors.

[Drug prescription practices in public medical centres in Gabon].

Context Of The Problem: Inappropriate drug use constitutes a major problem of health programs in developing countries. The objective of this study was to describe and assess the quality of drug prescription practices in public medical centres in Gabon.

Method: Using the Drug Use Prescribing Indicators developed collaboratively by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD), we retrospectively evaluated the drugs prescribed during 1,200 randomly selected outpatient consultations that took place in 20 randomly selected public medical centres during the period between July 1, 1997 and June 30, 1998.