LIMA, H. S. M.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/3413775671508810; LIMA, Hallyson Santos Morais.
Resumo:
The elderly population was one of the population classes that grew the most in Brazil in the
last 10 years. As a result, according to WHO estimates, by 2025, Brazil will be the sixth
country in the world in terms of the number of elderly people. Concurrently with this growth,
there was a high prevalence of mental illnesses and, consequently, an increase in the
consumption of psychotropic drugs, among them the use of benzodiazepines. These drugs are
the most widely prescribed and widely used worldwide to combat insomnia and anxiety,
especially in the elderly. Thus, it becomes quite relevant to study more about this subject,
especially in the elderly. The aim of the study is to review the use of benzodiazepines in the
elderly, analyzing their effects and what the risks are due to their prolonged use. It is an
integrative review of the literature, for its realization and elaboration, articles were used,
being these, read, interpreted and analyzed. Their respective references were obtained from
the electronic databases: Scielo, Virtual Health Library (VHL), ScholarGoogle, CAPES
journals, Medline / PubMed, where the following descriptors were used: "benzodiazepines",
"anxiolytics", " , "Anxiety", "old age", as well as their combinations and their respective terms
in english for international articles search, following as inclusion criteria, articles published in
national and international journals published in periodicals in ten years (2007-2017),
prioritizing the most recent ones. The use of benzodiazepines by the elderly has generated a
series of discursions, several studies carried out in recent years, report that elderly women are
the ones who consume this type of medication more and that their prolonged use, exceeding
periods of 4 to 6 weeks, causes Phenomena of tolerance and dependence, especially in the
elderly. Analyzing the articles, it is possible to conclude that the importance of the
pharmaceutical professional in guiding the rational use of the benzodiazepines is essential to
try to minimize the risks caused by the indiscriminate and abusive use of these drugs.