Aging in Place: Use of Inappropriate Psychotropic Medications More Likely in SNFs with Over-Worked Staffs

New evidence suggests a link between overwork staffs in nursing facilities and the inappropriate use of psychotropic and antiphsychotic medications. Dutch researchers recently reported the results of a new study designed to identify possible patient and non-patient causes behind prescribing psychotropic drugs. The study included a sample of nearly 350 nursing home residents with a psychotropic drug prescription and dementia, according to an article published in McKnight's Long-Term Care News.  

The findings, published in International Psychogeriatrics, showed that the more patients and years of experience a physician had, as well as the higher the nursing staff's workload, the more likely the patient was to receive inappropriate psychotropic drug prescriptions.  Less appropriate prescriptions were also identified when residents had more severe anxiety, a diagnosis of dementia other than Alzheimer's, and more time spent with a physician.

Older residents and those with more severe aggression, depression and agitation were more likely to receive appropriate psychotropic prescriptions. 

The link between more pronounced symptoms and more appropriate prescribing “implies that physicians should pay more attention to the appropriateness” of prescriptions when symptoms are less obvious, the researchers said. The researchers also acknowledged that some of their findings may seem counterintuitive, and require more research before concrete recommendations are made.

Of course, this new evidence only supports the argument for planning to "Age In Place." For more information regarding Aging in Place planning, and the use of an Aging in Place suitable estate plan, go here.  

For more regarding negative health outcomes of the use of such medications in skilled nursing facilities, see Antipsychotics and Psychotropic Drugs Increase Fall Risks in Nursing Homes.