ISSN 2586-0151 (Print) | ISSN 2586-0046 (Online)
대한불안의학회지 (21권2호 42-48)
Clinical Preferences for Benzodiazepine Use in the Treatment of Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder
공황장애와 범불안장애 약물 치료에서 벤조디아제핀 선택
Hyeon-Ah Lee1, Jun Ho Seo2, Min-Kyoung Kim3, Yoon Young Chang4, Myung Hee Ahn5, Kang Soo Lee6, Ho-Jun Seo7, Won Kim4, Ho-Suk Suh8, Kyoung-Uk Lee9, and Eunsoo Moon10
1Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, 2Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, 3Department of Psychiatry, CHA Ilsan Medical Center, CHA University, Ilsan, 4Department of Psychiatry, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, 5Division of Psychiatry, Health Screening and Promotion Center, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, 6Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, 7Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Suwon, 8Suh Hosuk Yonsei Psychiatry Clinic for Healthy Mind, Seoul, 9Department of Psychiatry, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, College of Medicine, Uijeongbu, 10Department of Psychiatry, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea
Objective : This study aimed to investigate psychiatrists’ preferences and prescribing patterns of benzodi
azepines (BDZs) during acute-phase pharmacological treatment of panic disorder (PD) and generalized anxi
ety disorder (GAD). The goal was to identify disorder-specific trends in BDZ prescribing and provide
groundwork for future treatment guidelines.
Methods : A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August to October 2024 among psychiatrists in
Korea with clinical expertise in anxiety disorders. The survey covered first-line treatment strategies, BDZ
preference, reasons for preference, and preferred BDZ types. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare responses
related to PD and GAD.
Results : First-line treatment during the acute phase significantly differed between the disorders, with PD
showing a higher preference for combined antidepressant and BDZ use compared to GAD (p=0.003). Psychi
atrists favored BDZ use more strongly in PD than in GAD (p=0.037). The most frequently cited reason for
BDZ use in both disorders was rapid symptom relief. Regarding specific BDZs, alprazolam was the most pre
ferred for PD, while preferences were more distributed for GAD-alprazolam (40.4%), clonazepam (26.3%),
and lorazepam (21.2%) (p<0.001).
Conclusion : Psychiatrists’ preferences for BDZ prescribing vary significantly between PD and GAD, likely
reflecting differences in symptomatology and pharmacological considerations. Further research is needed to es
tablish objectivity, including analyses of real-world prescribing patterns and investigations examining the effec
tiveness of different types of BDZs. (Anxiety and Mood 2025;21(2):42-47)
Benzodiazepine; Panic disorder; Generalized anxiety disorder; Preference
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