In healthcare, the interventions fall into a category called "do-nots". These are treatments that lack scientific support, are associated with high costs, do not benefit the patient or can be directly harmful.
Medication is given despite recommendation
Among other things, treatment for depression and anxiety disorders has been investigated. It notesthat a third of healthcare providers still administer benzodiazepines to patients with anxiety disorders for long-term treatment, despite the fact that the risk of addiction is very high.
"In 4, more than 000,2021 patients with anxiety disorders were treated with benzodiazepines, which shows the importance of continuing the work of phasing out treatment," says Christina Broman, project manager for the evaluation, in a press release.
More active work is needed
There are national guidelines in some 20 areas of care, and the National Board of Health and Welfare has investigated eleven of them. The National Board of Health and Welfare believes that more active work and follow-ups are needed to phase out measures that should not be used.
The study shows that the reasons why the measures are still given are because the benefits are considered to outweigh the risks after an individual assessment.
However, it is unclear what is considered to be useful. In some cases, patients have had the procedures for a long time and it is considered problematic to stop using them because the recommendations change. The National Board of Health and Welfare believes that this is precisely why they should be phased out. It also happens that patients receive the procedures because they wanted it.
See a list of treatments to be phased out in the clip above.