Craving for benzodiazepines : the development of the benzodiazepine craving questionnaire

Mol, A.J.J. (2007)

Doctoral Thesis

This thesis describes the development and initial validation of the Benzodiazepine Craving Questionnaire (BCQ), a Rasch-homogeneous self-report questionnaire to assess craving for benzodiazepines. This questionnaire was developed as part of the Benzoredux project, which was designed to evaluate a stepped-care approach to reduce long-term benzodiazepine use in general practice. In chapter 1 aspects of (long-term) benzodiazepine use are discussed (definition; prevalence; dependence). We address the role of craving in dependence on addictive substances and find that benzodiazepine craving research is scarce. Chapter 2 describes the development and initial validation of the BCQ. Chapter 3 describes characteristics of patients reporting benzodiazepine craving and associations between benzodiazepine craving and other clinical variables in a general practice population who had made an attempt to discontinue their long-term benzodiazepine use. In chapter 4 we have aimed to assess benzodiazepine craving longitudinally and have described its course by means of the BCQ. Chapter 5 addresses the scope of the craving definition (broad versus narrow). In Chapter 6 we find that in long-term benzodiazepine users who received a supervised tapering off protocol after a failed attempt to quit on their own, benzodiazepine craving predicts relapse during a 15-month follow-up period independent of other predictors. Chapter 7 presents a general discussion.

• Addiction
• Benzodiazepines
• Craving
• Questionnaire development

• All authors: Mol, A.J.J.
• Supervisor: Zitman, F.G.
• Co-supervisor: Breteler, M.H.M.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden University
• Date: 2007-09-20
• Publisher: Department psychiatry, Medicine / Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University