Prescribing of psychotropic medication for nursing home residents with dementia: a general practitioner survey.
Clin Interv Aging
; 12: 1573-1578, 2017.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29042758
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to identify factors influencing the prescribing of psychotropic medication by general practitioners (GPs) to nursing home residents with dementia. SUBJECTS ANDMETHODS:
GPs with experience in nursing homes were recruited through professional body newsletter advertising, while 1,000 randomly selected GPs from southeastern Australia were invited to participate, along with a targeted group of GPs in Tasmania. An anonymous survey was used to collect GPs' opinions.RESULTS:
A lack of nursing staff and resources was cited as the major barrier to GPs recommending non-pharmacological techniques for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD; cited by 55%; 78/141), and increasing staff levels at the nursing home ranked as the most important factor to reduce the usage of psychotropic agents (cited by 60%; 76/126).CONCLUSION:
According to GPs, strategies to reduce the reliance on psychotropic medication by nursing home residents should be directed toward improved staffing and resources at the facilities.Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Psychotropic Drugs
/
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
/
General Practitioners
/
Homes for the Aged
/
Nursing Homes
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
En
Year:
2017
Type:
Article