"In recent years, Medicaid has spent more money on antipsychotic drugs for Americans than on any other class of pharmaceuticals," largely because nursing homes are "giving these drugs to elderly patients to quiet symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia" -- conditions for which the drugs are not approved by FDA, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to CMS, 21% of nursing home residents who do not have a diagnosis of psychosis are prescribed antipsychotic drugs. "The growing off-label use of antipsychotic medicines in the elderly is coming under fire from regulators, academics, patient advocates and even some in the nursing home industry," the Journal reports.
Christie Teigland, director of informatics research for the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging -- a not-for-profit industry group -- said, "You walk into facilities where you see residents slumped over in their wheelchairs, their heads are hanging, and they're out of it, and that is unacceptable." According to Teigland, her research shows about one-third of dementia patients in nursing homes in New York state are receiving antipsychotics, with some facilities dispensing the drugs at rates as high as 60% to 70% of patients.
Showing posts with label medication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medication. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Overuse Of Medication In Care Homes
Older people with problem behaviour in care homes are often given psychotropic medication due to lack of other options.
This is the conclusion of Ms Amy Wood-Mitchell from the Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Trust who presented her findings at the PSIGE conference, that was held in July 2007, at the Annual Conference for Psychology Specialists Working with Older People (PSIGE) - part of The British Psychological Society - at the University of Nottingham.
Using a qualitative approach eight 'old-age' consultant psychiatrists were interviewed about the factors which influenced their decisions to prescribe medication.
The results showed many inconsistencies in prescribing, often unrelated to the patient, such as pressure to prescribe, type of setting and lack of access to other services. The findings may explain why use of drugs is increasing for this type of problem, despite guidelines suggesting the use of non-drug based approaches prior to medication.
This is the conclusion of Ms Amy Wood-Mitchell from the Northumberland Tyne & Wear NHS Trust who presented her findings at the PSIGE conference, that was held in July 2007, at the Annual Conference for Psychology Specialists Working with Older People (PSIGE) - part of The British Psychological Society - at the University of Nottingham.
Using a qualitative approach eight 'old-age' consultant psychiatrists were interviewed about the factors which influenced their decisions to prescribe medication.
The results showed many inconsistencies in prescribing, often unrelated to the patient, such as pressure to prescribe, type of setting and lack of access to other services. The findings may explain why use of drugs is increasing for this type of problem, despite guidelines suggesting the use of non-drug based approaches prior to medication.
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