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Objectives: To examine how change in benzodiazepine (BZD) use is linked to changes in depressive symptoms intensity, worry intensity, and sleep quality over 16 months., Method: Data come from a larger randomised controlled trial (RCT) named the 'Programme d'Aide du Succès au SEvrage (PASSE-60+)' study (NCT02281175). Seventy-three participants age 60 years and older took part in a 4-month discontinuation programme and were assessed four times over 16 months. Change in BZD use was defined as the difference in reported mg/day between two assessments. Control variables were RCT discontinuation group; BZD use at T1; and either depressive symptoms, worry intensity, or sleep quality at T1. Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to analyse data., Results: In the short term, right after the discontinuation programme, sleep quality worsened with lower BZD use. This link was no longer significant at the 3- and 12-month follow-up. In the long term, depressive symptoms lowered with lower BZD use. No change was found in worry intensity in relation to BZD use at all measurement times., Conclusion: Discontinuation may improve depressive symptoms. Our study also questions the long-term effectiveness of BZD use, since long-term discontinuation was not linked with change in worry intensity and sleep quality.

Objective: Benzodiazepines (BZD) are often prescribed to address sleep difficulties but many BZD users report a poor quality of sleep. Although social support was found to be associated with quality of sleep in a recent meta-analysis, this relationship was never studied in older BZD users. This study thus aims to examine how social support is associated with quality of sleep in older BZD users. Method: Seventy-two older adults (age 60-85) using BZD were recruited. Data was collected during the pre-test of the ''PASSE-60+; Support program for a successful withdrawal, NCT02281175'' study. Quality of sleep was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), while social support was evaluated with the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ-6). Results: When examining the various dimensions of self-reported sleep quality as a whole, we found no significant association with social support, while controlling for daily BZD dose, anxiety and depression. However, we found a significant association between self-reported diurnal dysfunctions (e.g., daytime sleepiness) and satisfaction with social support. Conclusion: Although the results of our study should be replicated with larger samples, they might indicate that social support is not a significant factor influencing sleep quality in older chronic BZD users. Our results could differ from those found in other populations because of the changes in sleep quality associated with long term BZD use. Longitudinal studies should analyse the relationship between diurnal dysfunctions and satisfaction with social support, to examine if social support could help older adults alleviate their diurnal dysfunctions and eventually facilitate BZD tapering.