The Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptom Questionnaire: psychometric evaluation during a discontinuation program in depressed chronic benzodiazepine users in general practice

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptom Questionnaire (BWSQ, Tyrer et al. 1990) has been developed to measure distinct features of the benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. However, psychometric evaluations of this questionnaire are scarce. AIMS, SETTING: To evaluate the BWSQ during a discontinuation program carried out by general practitioners in 230 depressed chronic benzodiazepine users. FINDINGS: Reliability coefficients during the program were between 0.84 and 0.88 and the test-retest correlations were between 0.75 and 0.88 during withdrawal. Mean scores of the BWSQ during withdrawal differentiated between completers and failures (p = 0.036). The factor structure underlying the items consisted of perceptual and sensory disturbances, dysphoric mood, muscular pain and memory loss. Low scores during the last phase of tapering off predicted no, or limited, use of benzodiazepines in the first years following discontinuation (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: We found the BWSQ to measure symptoms during benzodiazepine withdrawal in a reliable way. Our findings indicate some construct validity for BWSQ. Low scores during withdrawal predict more limited future use of benzodiazepines.