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Malbrand
Landestafel
Aug 24, 2020 17:03
3 yrs ago
50 viewers *
German term

Medikamentenabhängigkeit (BE)

German to English Medical Medical: Pharmaceuticals localization into BE
Hi BE-natives!

I am proofreading a SmPC of a benzodiazepine and the text is written in BE. However, I have come across a sentence that does not seem very BE to me. For the US audience, it is appropriate, but I was wondering whether the Brits would understand this correctly.

Benzodiazepine sollten nur unter größter Vorsicht bei Patienten mit Alkohol- oder Medikamentenabhängigkeit in der Anamnese angewendet werden.


It was translated as "Benzodiazepines should be used with extreme caution in patients with a history of alcohol or drug abuse".


I do not want the reader to get the wrong idea of an "illicit drug" instead of a medicinal product. Is here a standard term for this in BE? History of alcohol and medication abuse, or medicinal product abuse? What sounds best to your ears?

Thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +5 medication dependency
3 +3 (prescription) drug dependence
4 +1 medication addiction
4 Prescription drug abuse
5 -1 drug dependency
3 (prescribed) medicine dependence

Discussion

Ramey Rieger (X) Aug 26, 2020:
@ Anne Gotcha! Thank you.
Anne Schulz Aug 26, 2020:
@Ramey "Medikamentenabhängigkeit" may not be the best choice of term, and may have been as much an attempt to be 'politically correct' as trying to avoid "abuse". The relevant aspect, however, is abuse/overuse/misuse/addiction. Most everybody would run into a state of "dependency" when the body adapts to a chronic medication, hence, this warning would mean "Use benzodiazepines with extreme caution in everybody" (makes sense as well, of course ;-) if drug dependency were the point here.
Ramey Rieger (X) Aug 25, 2020:
@ Lirka Good morning! Yes, I can see that for alcohol and nicotine, since these are non-prescription,voluntary imbibed/inhaled drugs. However, medication dependency is brought about by doctors, it's a passive process. Hence, dependency.
Björn Vrooman Aug 24, 2020:
@Lirka But how do you distinguish between Alkoholmissbrauch and Alkoholabhängigkeit if you use alcohol abuse for the latter? E.g.:
https://www.neurologen-und-psychiater-im-netz.org/kinder-jug...
https://deximed.de/home/b/suchtmedizin/patienteninformatione...

According to the following, Alkoholabhängigkeit is alcoholism, while Alkoholmissbrauch is alcohol abuse (I think):
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/alcoholism-and...

Best
Lirka (asker) Aug 24, 2020:
Hi Ramey, I agree that it is a harsh word, but it happens to be a standard term in pharma. Alcohol abuse, even "nicotine abuse" (for smoking)
Ramey Rieger (X) Aug 24, 2020:
Hi there Lirka! Do not use the word abuse at all. With a history of medication dependency

Proposed translations

+5
10 mins
Selected

medication dependency

as opposed to the U.S. dependancy. The word abuse is quite harsh, even to my U.S. ears. This is a dependancy, not abuse in the junkie sense. They began taking the medication on doctor's orders,
Peer comment(s):
agree Emmanuella
10 mins
Good morning!
agree philgoddard : It's rarely spelled with an A on either side of the Atlantic.
53 mins
that's how it's differentiated on the net.
agree Tatijana Kostovska
1 hr
Please swallow :-)
agree writeaway : /give it your best shot...
1 hr
Hey Lady, shall we FIX it?
agree Barbara Schmidt, M.A. (X) : agree
3 hrs
Thanks, dear, have a good one!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I went with "medication dependence" in the end. Thanks!"
20 mins

(prescribed) medicine dependence

Compare with this:
"Tackling prescribed medicine dependence and withdrawal" https://www.pharmacymagazine.co.uk/tackling-prescribed-medic...
Something went wrong...
+3
56 mins

(prescription) drug dependence

There are over 2 million hits for “drug dependence”

Treatment of Benzodiazepine Dependence
Michael Soyka, M.D.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...
However, little evidence is available for psychosocial interventions in people
with both severe illness and substance misuse,65 and only a few experimental studies have investigated the efficacy of various therapies for prescription-drug dependence.66,67

In the references:
Soyka M. Medikamentenabhängigkeit.
Stuttgart, Germany: Schattauer, 2015.


--------------------------

https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/1...
Effektivität von Screeningverfahren zur Identifizierung von Medikamentenabhängigkeit: Vergleich der Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) und des Kurzfragebogens zu Medikamentenmissbrauch (KMM)
Efficacy of Screening Measures for Dependence on Prescription Drugs: Comparison of the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) and the Brief Questionnaire for Drug Misuse

Schlüsselwörter
Screening - Medikamentenabhängigkeit - Allgemeinkrankenhaus - Benzodiazepine - Opioide
Key words
screening - prescription drug dependence - general hospital - benzodiazepines - opioids
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : This is fine too, though I don't agree with "prescription".
2 hrs
agree Marga Shaw : also: medical drug addiction ( https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:snvs6o... )
4 hrs
agree Dhananjay Rau : yes, absolutely
11 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 hr

Prescription drug abuse

https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/th-concept/-/res...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2020-08-24 18:24:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------


Prescription Drug Addiction | A Guide To Abuse Signs ...www.detoxplusuk.com › addiction-to-prescription-drugs
Addiction to medication & prescription drug abuse has now reached epidemic levels in the UK. If left untreated it can become life-threatening.
Note from asker:
Thanks, Liz, but that would exclude OTC drugs, so I hesitate.
Peer comment(s):
neutral philgoddard : You can abuse drugs without being dependent on them.
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
-1
15 hrs

drug dependency

You can still use it like this. I think the context makes it extra clear that it is referring to medication and not illicit drugs.

I would actually suggest using this instead of the word medication, because it makes sense to indirectly allude to alcohol etc being drugs in a way rather than medication.

Don't let the localization influence you too much - the word "drug" in this context has similar meaning in both.
Reference:

https://www.linguee.com/english-german/search?source=auto&query=Medikamentenabh%C3%A4ngigkeit+

https://www.google.com/search?q=drug+uk+english&oq=drug+uk+english&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i59j69i60l3j69i61j69i60l2.2349j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie

Peer comment(s):
disagree Chris Pr : Already suggested 14 hours earlier...plus the refs and CL5 don't match at all...
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
1 day 8 hrs

medication addiction

https://dict.leo.org/german-english/Medikamentenabhängigkeit

Or, since the asker wishes to include OTC medications:
pharmaceutical addiction

Ref. material:
"I'm not sure this should be limited to prescription drugs, thereby excluding over-the-counter medications."

http://www.southofboston.net/specialreports/drugwars/day5/in...

"Research shows more people are addicted to licit drugs than illicit drugs, McLaughlin said. The medical community calls pharmaceutical addiction the hidden epidemic."

Source: https://dict.leo.org/forum/viewUnsolvedquery.php?idThread=18...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 8 hrs (2020-08-26 02:00:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Also, I'd rework the suggested sentence to read, '...alcoholism and med/pharm addiction...'
Peer comment(s):
agree Anne Schulz
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
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