Tatjana Petrushevska1*, Vesna Velik
Stefanovska2
1Ministry of Health, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia; 2Institute
for Epidemiology and Medical Biostatistics, Medical Faculty, Ss. Cyril and
Methodius University of Skopje, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
AIM: The aim of this study was to analyze the use of benzodiazepines
in the period of 2003-2013 year in the Republic of Macedonia (MKD).
METHOD: The study was cross sectional and analyzes the available data
on the use of benzodiazepines in the country. This study used several
sources of data: Statistical Reports of the United Nations regarding the
consumption of psychotropic substances; data from the Ministry of Health
associated with the use of benzodiazepines (BZD), derived from reports of
Ministry of Health stakeholders; Data extracted from the database of the
Ministry of Health in the electronic database "My term" and Analysis of
reports of Health Insurance Fund.
RESULTS: The analysis for the period 2003-2013 showed that the most
consumed drug in MKD from the group of BZD is Diazepam, with 54.8 and
predominantly is use of diazepam of 5 mg with 59 %. According to the Health
Insurance Fund, Diazepam is second most prescribed medicaments of all
medicaments with marketing authorization in MKD.
CONCLUSIONS: The analysis shows that the use of BZD in MKD is
particularly high. Limited number of studies was performed for this kind of
drugs relating to their effects; differences in use between genders; adult
population. There is need for additional focused research that will
contribute to developing a full picture of the situation.
..................
Citation: Petrushevska T, Velik Stefanovska V. Use
of Medicines from the Group of Benzodiazepines in the Period of 2003-2013
Year in the Republic of Macedonia. OA Maced J Med Sci. http://dx.doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2015.004.
Key words: benzodiazepines; drug dependence; diazepam; alprazolam;
drug consumption.
*Correspondence: Tatjana Petrushevska. Ministry of Health, "Vodnjanska"
bb, Skopje 1000, Republic of Macedonia. E-Mail: tanja.petrusevska@gmail.com
Received: 13-Nov-2014; Revised: 23-Oct-2014; Accepted: 16-Dec-2014; Online
first: 24-Dec-2014
Copyright: © 2014 Tatjana Petrushevska, Vesna Velik Stefanovska. This
is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are
credited.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing
interests exist.
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