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Psychotropic Medication Use in Canadian Long-Term Care Patients Referred for Psychogeriatric Consultation

BACKGROUND AND PUSPOSE: Prior studies have shown a high prevalence of psychotropic medication use among patients residing in long-term care homes (LTCHs). The purpose of this study was to examine psychotropic medication use by LTCH patients in a metropolitan Canadian city referred to outreach teams...

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Autores principales: Fischer, Corinne E., Cohen, Carole, Forrest, Lauren, Schweizer, Tom A., Wasylenki, Donald
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Canadian Geriatrics Society 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3516351/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251317
http://dx.doi.org/10.5770/cgj.v14i3.18
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author Fischer, Corinne E.
Cohen, Carole
Forrest, Lauren
Schweizer, Tom A.
Wasylenki, Donald
author_facet Fischer, Corinne E.
Cohen, Carole
Forrest, Lauren
Schweizer, Tom A.
Wasylenki, Donald
author_sort Fischer, Corinne E.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND AND PUSPOSE: Prior studies have shown a high prevalence of psychotropic medication use among patients residing in long-term care homes (LTCHs). The purpose of this study was to examine psychotropic medication use by LTCH patients in a metropolitan Canadian city referred to outreach teams for psychiatric assessment. METHODS: A retrospective review of charts from specialized psychogeriatric outreach teams serving a large metropolitan city in Canada was undertaken. Data from 68 charts were reviewed. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics. RESULTS: Antipsychotic medications were the most frequent drugs prescribed to patients referred for psychogeriatric assessment (55.9%), followed by antidepressants (50.0%), cognitive enhancers (44.1%) and benzodiazepines (29.4%). More than a quarter of patients (26.5%) were on three psychotropic medications. Medications were adjusted in 35.3% of cases mostly resulting in dose increases. Only 5.9% of patients had their medication dose reduced. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary exploratory study suggests that patients referred to specialized outreach teams may be a difficult-to-treat population. Further studies are required to establish effective prescribing practices and service delivery models.
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spelling pubmed-35163512012-12-18 Psychotropic Medication Use in Canadian Long-Term Care Patients Referred for Psychogeriatric Consultation Fischer, Corinne E. Cohen, Carole Forrest, Lauren Schweizer, Tom A. Wasylenki, Donald Can Geriatr J Original Research BACKGROUND AND PUSPOSE: Prior studies have shown a high prevalence of psychotropic medication use among patients residing in long-term care homes (LTCHs). The purpose of this study was to examine psychotropic medication use by LTCH patients in a metropolitan Canadian city referred to outreach teams for psychiatric assessment. METHODS: A retrospective review of charts from specialized psychogeriatric outreach teams serving a large metropolitan city in Canada was undertaken. Data from 68 charts were reviewed. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics. RESULTS: Antipsychotic medications were the most frequent drugs prescribed to patients referred for psychogeriatric assessment (55.9%), followed by antidepressants (50.0%), cognitive enhancers (44.1%) and benzodiazepines (29.4%). More than a quarter of patients (26.5%) were on three psychotropic medications. Medications were adjusted in 35.3% of cases mostly resulting in dose increases. Only 5.9% of patients had their medication dose reduced. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary exploratory study suggests that patients referred to specialized outreach teams may be a difficult-to-treat population. Further studies are required to establish effective prescribing practices and service delivery models. Canadian Geriatrics Society 2011-11-11 /pmc/articles/PMC3516351/ /pubmed/23251317 http://dx.doi.org/10.5770/cgj.v14i3.18 Text en © 2011 Author(s). Published by the Canadian Geriatrics Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivative license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use and distribution, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Fischer, Corinne E.
Cohen, Carole
Forrest, Lauren
Schweizer, Tom A.
Wasylenki, Donald
Psychotropic Medication Use in Canadian Long-Term Care Patients Referred for Psychogeriatric Consultation
title Psychotropic Medication Use in Canadian Long-Term Care Patients Referred for Psychogeriatric Consultation
title_full Psychotropic Medication Use in Canadian Long-Term Care Patients Referred for Psychogeriatric Consultation
title_fullStr Psychotropic Medication Use in Canadian Long-Term Care Patients Referred for Psychogeriatric Consultation
title_full_unstemmed Psychotropic Medication Use in Canadian Long-Term Care Patients Referred for Psychogeriatric Consultation
title_short Psychotropic Medication Use in Canadian Long-Term Care Patients Referred for Psychogeriatric Consultation
title_sort psychotropic medication use in canadian long-term care patients referred for psychogeriatric consultation
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3516351/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23251317
http://dx.doi.org/10.5770/cgj.v14i3.18
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