{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T17:17:02Z","timestamp":1781716622705,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767744000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmacy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are used routinely in cases requiring sedation for anxiety, insomnia, and procedures that require pain management, and daily use of these agents may extend over several months; therefore, monitoring patients is essential to reduce the risk of developing dependence. However, the high patient volume in pain and palliative-care settings often limits physicians\u2019 ability to both conduct consultations and perform comprehensive evaluations. In this context, the pharmacist plays a key role in supporting patient care by contributing professional activities that enhance patient well-being, such as conducting systematic reviews of electronic medical records. This pharmacist-led EMR assessment enables the identification of benzodiazepine dependence patterns and supports a more robust epidemiological evaluation within the institution. Methods: A descriptive observational study (January 2022\u2013May 2025) using electronic medical records and prescription data was conducted. Consecutive adults with an active BZD prescription and a documented BDEPQ-MX (Benzodiazepine Dependence Questionnaire, Mexican version) were included. Outcomes were BDEPQ-MX categories (No dependence; Pleasurable effects; Perceived need; Dependence) and a binary endpoint was stablished as \u201cany dependence\u201d (either scored in Perceived need or Dependence category) vs. No dependence (either scored as No dependence or Pleasurable effects categories). Group comparisons used \u03c72, Student\u2019s t, and one-way ANOVA. A logistic regression modeled any dependence; a general linear model (GLM) examined the BDEPQ-MX total score. Results: Of 181 complete cases, BDEPQ-MX categories were No dependence 33.2% (60\/181), Pleasurable effects 7.2% (13\/181), Perceived need 17.1% (31\/181), and Dependence 42.5% (77\/181); hence, 59.7% met \u201cany dependence.\u201d Women comprised 67.4% overall. Compared with No dependence, the any-dependence group had higher comorbidity (83.3% vs. 65.8%, p = 0.006) and markedly greater duration of BZD use (months) (22.6 \u00b1 11.5 vs. 5.9 \u00b1 4.9, p &lt; 0.001), with no difference in daily dose (p = 0.6). Benzodiazepine medications shifted toward alprazolam in dependence (38.9% vs. 20.5%, p = 0.009) and away from clonazepam (43.5% vs. 58.9%, p = 0.042). In the adjusted model, the male sex was associated with lower odds of any dependence (aOR 0.29, 95% CI 0.11\u20130.76; p = 0.013), while the duration of BZD use (per month) increased the odds (aOR 1.32, 1.20\u20131.45; p &lt; 0.001). In the GLM, the duration showed the largest effect on BDEPQ-MX total (F = 203.26; p &lt; 0.001; partial \u03b72 = 0.545). Conclusions: In this outpatient pain and palliative-care population, benzodiazepine-related dependence phenomena were common: 59.7% of patients met the criteria for dependence based on the pharmacist-led EMR review. The involvement of the pharmacist was essential, as this systematic evaluation would have been difficult to perform within routine medical consultations. The pharmacist\u2019s contribution enabled a detailed epidemiological characterization, revealing that the exposure duration\u2014more than daily dose\u2014was the principal, modifiable correlate of dependence, and that alprazolam was disproportionately represented in the higher-dependence categories. These findings underscore the value of pharmacist-supported surveillance to identify and measure BZD dependance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmacy14010006","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T09:34:12Z","timestamp":1767778452000},"page":"6","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Epidemiological Assessment of Benzodiazepine Dependence via Pharmacist-Led EMR Review in Pain and Palliative Care Institution"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6842-5174","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos Eduardo","family":"Estrada-De La Rosa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Jalisciense de Alivio al Dolor y Cuidados Paliativos, Secretaria de Salud Jalisco, Zapopan 45150, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5328-4519","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felipe Alexis","family":"Avalos-Salgado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Farmacobiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenier\u00edas (CUCEI), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9237-213X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel Osmar","family":"Su\u00e1rez-Rico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Farmacobiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenier\u00edas (CUCEI), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Mexico"},{"name":"Instituto de Terap\u00e9utica Experimental y Cl\u00ednica (INTEC), Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3631-0281","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martin","family":"Zerme\u00f1o-Ruiz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Farmacobiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenier\u00edas (CUCEI), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3763-7115","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"C\u00e9sar Ricardo","family":"Cortez-\u00c1lvarez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Farmacobiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenier\u00edas (CUCEI), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3072-0987","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raymundo","family":"Escutia-Guti\u00e9rrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Farmacobiolog\u00eda, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenier\u00edas (CUCEI), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44430, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.1159\/000525988","article-title":"Cognitive Functioning in Long-Term Benzodiazepine Users","volume":"28","author":"Zetsen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Eur. 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