{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T13:43:55Z","timestamp":1786196635106,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786147200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786147200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["JP22K10406"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JP22K10406"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Ther Innov Regul Sci"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aimed to evaluate the effects of psychotropic drug scheduling, including limiting the days\u2019 supply per prescription, on the prescriptions of etizolam and zopiclone, benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs), in Japan.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study was based on the randomly sampled data from the national administrative health insurance claims data in Japan from 2012 to 2020. We analyzed age-specific trends in prescriptions of the two BZRAs, which were designated as psychotropic drugs in 2016. The impacts of psychotropic drug scheduling on the prescription trends were evaluated using interrupted time series analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>After the scheduling, etizolam prescriptions showed an immediate decrease and a continuing decrease at a greater rate than before the intervention in patients aged 80\u00a0years or older (Level [per 10,000 people], \u221222.23, 95% CI \u221239.57, \u22124.88; Slope [per 10,000 people \/ 3\u00a0months], \u22128.07, 95% CI \u221210.14, \u22126.00). Among patients aged 80\u00a0years or older, the prescription of zopiclone decreased immediately after the scheduling, with no trend change (Level [per 10,000 people], \u22127.20, 95% CI \u221211.99, \u22122.42; Slope [per 10,000 people \/ 3\u00a0months], \u22120.04, 95% CI \u22120.61, 0.53). Changes in the other age groups were generally smaller than those observed in the\u2009\u2265\u200980\u00a0years group.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Following the psychotropic scheduling, significant decreases in the prescription rates of etizolam and zopiclone were observed among patients aged 80\u00a0years or older. The effects of psychotropic drug scheduling of BZRAs on reducing prescriptions were modest and may be insufficient to substantially influence prescribing behavior, suggesting the need for additional or complementary approaches, such as clinician education and stricter medication review.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s43441-026-01029-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T13:28:14Z","timestamp":1786195694000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Psychotropic Drug Scheduling and Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonist Prescribing in Japan: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis"],"prefix":"10.1007","author":[{"given":"Kota","family":"Tatsuoka","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shota","family":"Hamada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sayuri","family":"Shimizu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Makoto","family":"Tomita","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"1029_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"493","DOI":"10.1007\/s40268-017-0207-7","volume":"17","author":"J Brandt","year":"2017","unstructured":"Brandt J, Leong C. Benzodiazepines and Z-drugs: an updated review of major adverse outcomes reported on in epidemiologic research. Drugs R D. 2017;17(4):493\u2013507.","journal-title":"Drugs R D"},{"issue":"10","key":"1029_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/sleep\/zsad124","volume":"46","author":"TT Ma","year":"2008","unstructured":"Ma TT, Wang Z, Qin X, Ju C, Lau WCY, Man KKC, et al. Global trends in the consumption of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs in 67 countries and regions from 2008 to 2018: a sales data analysis. Sleep. 2008;46(10):zsad124.","journal-title":"Sleep"},{"issue":"3","key":"1029_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1177\/2045125317743651","volume":"8","author":"SJC Davies","year":"1998","unstructured":"Davies SJC, Jacob B, Rudoler D, Zaheer J, de Oliveira C, Kurdyak P. Benzodiazepine prescription in ontario residents aged 65 and over: a population-based study from 1998 to 2013. 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Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2021;77(6):903\u201312.","journal-title":"Eur J Clin Pharmacol"},{"issue":"5","key":"1029_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1111\/pcn.13525","volume":"77","author":"M Takeshima","year":"2023","unstructured":"Takeshima M, Yoshizawa K, Enomoto M, Ogasawara M, Kudo M, Itoh Y, et al. Effects of Japanese policies and novel hypnotics on long-term prescriptions of hypnotics. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2023;77(5):264\u201372.","journal-title":"Psychiatry Clin Neurosci"},{"issue":"5","key":"1029_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"251","DOI":"10.1111\/pcn.13536","volume":"77","author":"T Tsuboi","year":"2023","unstructured":"Tsuboi T. Legislation alone is not enough to reduce prescriptions of benzodiazepines. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2023;77(5):251.","journal-title":"Psychiatry Clin Neurosci"},{"key":"1029_CR8","unstructured":"Initiative for Clinical Epidemiological Research. Data tables to check feasibility in studies using the NDB. https:\/\/icer.tokyo\/materials\/ndb_feasibility_check\/. Accessed 29 May 2026."},{"issue":"1","key":"1029_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.3164\/jcbn.23-111","volume":"75","author":"C Ichita","year":"2024","unstructured":"Ichita C, Goto T, Sasaki A, Shimizu S. National trends in hospitalizations for gastrointestinal bleeding in Japan. J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2024;75(1):60\u20134.","journal-title":"J Clin Biochem Nutr"},{"issue":"4","key":"1029_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2710.2002.00430.x","volume":"27","author":"AK Wagner","year":"2002","unstructured":"Wagner AK, Soumerai SB, Zhang F, Ross-Degnan D. Segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series studies in medication use research. 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Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Rep. 2023;2(2):e113.","journal-title":"Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Rep"}],"container-title":["Therapeutic Innovation &amp; Regulatory Science"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s43441-026-01029-4.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s43441-026-01029-4","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s43441-026-01029-4.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T13:28:15Z","timestamp":1786195695000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1007\/s43441-026-01029-4"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]]},"references-count":15,"alternative-id":["1029"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s43441-026-01029-4","relation":{},"ISSN":["2168-4790","2168-4804"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2168-4790","type":"print"},{"value":"2168-4804","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]]},"assertion":[{"value":"22 December 2025","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"3 August 2026","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"8 August 2026","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"SH belonged to an endowed chair funded by donations from Hakue Technology, PROUMED, Japan Bio Products, Towa Pharmaceutical, Yellow Eight, and Sugi Holdings. The other authors declare no conflict of interest. The funding bodies had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, writing of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","label":"Conflict of interest","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Ethical approval was not required because this study used publicly available, aggregated data.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","label":"Ethical approval","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}}]}}