Consumo de benzodiazepínicos em uma farmácia pública no interior da Paraíba frente a covid - 19.

Abstract

In 2019, SARS-CoV-2 is discovered, causing the disease COVID-19, which became a pandemic in 2020. As it is easily transmissible, health measures were adopted with the aim of reducing the spread of the virus, including isolation/social distancing. In a pandemic situation, people can experience strong emotional and behavioral reactions, for example: insomnia, anxiety and depressive disorders. The consumption of benzodiazepines has grown in Brazil and in the world, and among the factors associated with this increase are the introduction of new drugs, new therapeutic indications of existing psychotropic drugs and the increase in diagnoses of psychiatric disorders. Benzodiazepines are drugs indicated to treat insomnia and anxiety problems, such as sedatives and anticonvulsants. In Brazil, the prevalence of consumption of these drugs is high. In this context, the objective of this work was to analyze the consumption of benzodiazepines in the public pharmacy of the municipality of Picuí, in the interior of Paraíba, in the years 2019 (without a pandemic) and 2020 (with a pandemic). A quantitative analysis was carried out, through the search for information in the dispensation forms of the municipal pharmacy of Picuí in the years of interest. Of the 1176 records analyzed, data were collected from 348, which contained a record of dispensing a benzodiazepine. It was observed that the most dispensed drug of the class, both in 2019 and in 2020, was clonazepam 2 mg, followed by diazepam 10 mg. There was a higher prevalence of consumption for females and people over 40 years old. In 2020, there was a slight increase in the use of benzodiazepines compared to 2019, but it is not possible to say that this higher consumption was caused by the pandemic situation, considering that the difference in consumption obtained between the two years was not statistically significant and the literature points to an increase in the use of these drugs in recent years.