Physicians' Prescriptions of Tranquilizers and Tranquilizer Abuse
- 1 January 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of the Addictions
- Vol. 21 (4-5) , 559-577
- https://doi.org/10.3109/10826088609083541
Abstract
The abuse of tranquilizers is recognized as a major health problem. A substantial number of qualitative studies have suggested that the prescribing practices of physicians are at least partly responsible for the problem. Yet there is still a need to test this contention statistically. This paper tests the strength of the relationship over time between physicians' prescriptions of tranquilizers and tranquilizer abuse. Data on physicians' prescriptions are based on projections calculated by the National Disease and Therapeutic Index (NDTI). Data on tranquilizer abuse are based on emergency room episodes reported to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). The correlation between physicians' tranquilizer prescriptions and tranquilizer abuse is found to be. 46 (significant at the. 05 level), after controlling for serial correlations in the data.This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:
- Development of Psychiatric Illness in Drug AbusersNew England Journal of Medicine, 1979
- Diazepam and Drug-Associated DeathsPublished by American Medical Association (AMA) ,1979
- Diazepam and drug-associated deaths. A survey in the United States and CanadaJAMA, 1979
- The Reasons People Give for Taking OverdosesThe British Journal of Psychiatry, 1976