MISUSE OF ANXIOLYTICS AMONG WOMEN WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

In appropriate uses of medications are commonly referred to as misuse, defined as inappropriate use of a drug outside of the product's summary of characteristics and current best practice guidelines (1). Regardless of its form, misuse alters the benefit/risk balance of the medication. In France, it is estimated that 20 to 30% of adverse drug reactions are linked to misuse (2). All studies show that anxiolytics-widely used in psychiatric populations-are frequently misused in terms of treatment duration, dosage, and the number of medications prescribed concurrently. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 50% of benzodiazepine consumption worldwide does not comply with prescription standards (3). The psychiatric population is not only particularly exposed to anxiolytics but may also be more vulnerable to their side effects. In 2015, the prevalence of benzodiazepine use in France-across all indications-was higher among women (16.6%) than men (9.7%) across all age groups, with prevalence increasing with age. Women are therefore more susceptible to suchmisuse (4).