Duration of Antipsychotic Medication Use by Aged Care Facility Residents With Dementia

Introduction:
Guidelines recommend short-term targeted use of antipsychotic medications for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia only when other strategies have failed. Antipsychotic prescribing in dementia is common internationally, but data on duration of use are limited. Our objectives were to determine duration, time to initiation, and prevalence of antipsychotic use among people with dementia.
Methods:
This work was a retrospective dynamic cohort study of people aged 65 years or above with dementia in 68 residential aged facilities during the period spanning from 2014 to 2017. Medication administration records were used to identify antipsychotic medication use. Medication outcomes (prevalence, duration, and time to initiation) were estimated using regression. Covariates included comorbidities and sociodemographic and facility characteristics.
Results:
A…

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