Conference paper
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN ANXIOLYTIC PRESCRIBING IN LIGHT OF HOFSTEDE'S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS THEORY
Tom Sugnet
; Department of Addictions and Psychotrauma, Psychiatric Hospital Rab, Rab, Croatia
Suzana Jonovska
; Department of Addictions and Psychotrauma, Psychiatric Hospital Rab, Rab, Croatia ; Faculty of Health Studies, Rijeka, Croatia
Vesna Šendula-Jengić
; Faculty of Health Studies, Rijeka, Croatia ; Research Department, Psychiatric Hospital Rab, Rab, Croatia
Abstract
Background: Anxiolytics such as benzodiazepines are widely used in the treatment of anxiety disorders, although they are no
longer recommended as first-line therapy for these conditions due to increased risk of dependence, as well as cognitive adverse
effects, especially among the elderly. High prescribing rates of anxiolytics may be indicative of higher prevalence of anxiety-related
phenomena in a given society, either in a form of an anxiety disorder or as pressure on physicians to keep prescribing them, against
current guidelines.
Subjects and methods: We inspected prescribing rates of anxiolytics in 21 European countries and compared them with six
dimensions of Hofstede's cross-cultural framework, namely uncertainty avoidance (UAI), power distance (PD), individualism (IDV),
masculinity (MAS), long-term orientation (LTO) and indulgence (IND).
Results: According to our findings, anxiolytic prescribing patterns in selected European countries correlate positively with
Hofstede's dimensions of UAI and PD and negatively with IDV.
Conclusion: Differences in prescribing rates of anxiolytics and trends in their use may be affected by cross-cultural factors.
More research is needed to shed light on these regional differences in anxiolytic prescribing.
Keywords
anxiety; anxiolytics; benzodiazepines; cross-cultural; Hofstede; prescribing
Hrčak ID:
275078
URI
Publication date:
19.10.2021.
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