Psychopharmaceutical prescriptions to older people. A comparison between patients in aged- and nursing homes, outpatient treatment with nursing care and outpatients without nursing care

Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie
I HachW Kirch

Abstract

To determine, whether age, sex, grade of need of care and living in nursing homes can influence prescribing behavior in elderly. In a retrospective and longitudinal study, the pattern of psychoactive drug prescriptions of nursing home residents was compared with non-institutionalized people with and without need of care. During 1999, the computerized files of 3592 people (> 60 years), insured by a health insurance fund (BKK) in Berlin, Germany, were obtained. Nursing home residents received significantly more prescriptions of psychoactive drugs than the others, especially more neuroleptics (40.1% versus 12.4% and 7.4%). Quality of prescriptions seemed to be higher in nursing homes (use of drugs with fewer side effects and less possible interactions), psychoactive drug prescriptions were given more frequently by psychiatrists and neurologists (37%). Non-institutionalized patients received them most from general practitioners (45%). Women received more prescriptions of psychoactive drugs than male patients. With rising grade of need of care, proportionately more patients received psychoactive drugs. The results of this study show some evidence of the lacking quality in the prescriptions of psychopharmaceuticals to the elderly.

Citations

Apr 12, 2007·Biomedical Papers of the Medical Faculty of the University Palacký, Olomouc, Czechoslovakia·Dana HrnciarikovaMiloslav Hronek
Jun 11, 2005·European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·I HachW Kirch
Mar 10, 2015·The European Journal of Health Economics : HEPAC : Health Economics in Prevention and Care·Magdalena A Stroka

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