Why the study?
Does zolpidem have a lower abuse potential compared to conventional hypnotics?
Does zolpidem have a lower abuse potential compared to conventional hypnotics?
Zolpidem appears to have a relatively low abuse potential compared to conventional hypnotics, though caution is advised in patients with a history of substance abuse.
Supports lower zolpidem abuse risk versus other hypnotics; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice in patients with substance abuse history.
The abuse risk of new non-benzodiazepine hypnotics such as zolpidem has been discussed in a number of recent publications. We performed a Medline analysis which showed that, to date, 15 cases of abuse or dependence have been published. In 6 patients, the abuse was secondary to other forms of abuse or dependence. Other data from medical statistics and pharmacoepidemiological studies suggest the abuse potential of zolpidem to be much lower than that of other hypnotics. We conclude that zolpidem is a relatively safe drug compared to conventional hypnotics. Patients with other substance abuse histories may be considered as risk patients for later abuse of zolpidem.
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Soyka et al. (2000) studied this question.
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