NHS Choices 'Behind the Headlines' assessment: Worry over antipsychotic drugs in care homes

Source: NHS Choices Area: News The 'Behind the Headlines' service from NHS choices has featured a quality assessment of a study reported in both the Guardian and BBC News website. The stories were based on a population based study, conducted in Northern Ireland and published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society, which found that more than 20% of elderly people in care homes were given antipsychotic drugs, compared with just over 1% of those living in the community. The study also reported that the prescription of antipsychotic drugs increased from just over 8% before entering a care home to 18.6% afterwards (risk ratio [RR] 2.26, 95% [CI] 1.96 to 2.59), and hypnotic drug dispensing increased from 14.8% to 26.3% (RR 1.78, 95% CI 1.61 to 1.96).   The assessment discusses the research, its basic results and the authors conclusions, and what this means in practice. The assessment concluded that the study was well conducted and used reliable national data on community prescriptions. However, as the ...
Source: NeLM - News - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: news