Factors associated with drug prescribing practices in long-term care patients with cognitive impairment

PURPOSE: To examine factors associated with prescribing anti-dementia medicines (ADM), atypical antipsychotics (A-APM), typical antipsychotics (T-APM), anxiolytics and other psychostimulants (OP) in the residents of long-term care institutions (LTCIs). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of a country-representative sample of randomly selected LTCIs in Poland, conducted in 2015–2016. First, we identified 1035 residents with cognitive impairment (CI) among all 1587 residents. Next, we randomly selected 20 residents from each institution. Study sample consists of 455 residents with CI: 214 recruited from 11 nursing homes and 241 from 12 residential homes. We used InterRAI-LTCF questionnaire and drug dispensary cards administered on the day of data collection to assess use of drugs. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: The residents were treated with ADM (13.4%), OP (14.3%), antipsychotics (46.4%) including A-APM (24.2%) and T-APM (27.9%), and anxiolytics (28.4%). Hydroxyzine was used most often among anxiolytics (71.3%). Prescribing of ADM was more likely in Alzheimer’s disease (OR = 4.378; 95%CI 2.173–8.823), while OP in other dementia (OR = 1.873; 95%CI 1.007–3.485). Administration of A-APM was more likely in older residents (OR = 1.032, 95%CI 1.009–1.055), and when delusions appeared (OR = 2.082; 95%CI 1.199–3.613), while there were no neuropsychiatric factors increasing the odds of T-APM use. Prescribing of anxiolytics was less likely in moderate CI (by 47.2%) than in residents with mild CI. CONCLUSION: Current practices of prescribing psychotropics are inadequate in Polish LTCIs, especially in terms of use of T-APM and hydroxyzine. More attention should be given to motivate physicians to change their prescribing practices. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s41999-020-00331-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.