Consequences of the use of Benzodiazepines in the elderly: an integrative review

The aim of this study is to analyze the main consequences of the use of benzodiazepines in the elderly. This is an integrative literature review carried out in the following databases: SciELO, LILACS, BDENF, MEDLINE and PubMed. Articles were included in English, Portuguese or Spanish, published in the last ten years, available free of charge, whose results met the objective of this review. Incomplete texts, texts written in other languages, texts published before 2013, duplicates, theses, dissertations, monographs, conference proceedings and other integrative reviews were excluded. The final sample consisted of 10 articles. This study found that the elderly who use benzodiazepines the most are women, with a low level of education and who have chronic illnesses. Clonazepam and diazepam were the most commonly used. Furthermore, it was observed that irrational use is associated with negative health consequences, including cognitive decline, dependence and an increased risk of falls.