Psychotropic drug use in residential and nursing homes

Objective: A growing proportion of residev-nts of residential and nursing h omes is mentally ill and subject to intensive pharmacotherapy. This study p resents data on the use of psychotropic drugs use in residential and nursin g homes for the elderly in the new Lander. Method: The psychotropic drug us e of 560 residents of 4 old-people's homes in Leipzig (Germany) was reviewe d and analysed descriptively. Results: Half of the population of residentia l and nursing homes receives psychotropic drug treatment, a substantial par t with 2 or more drugs a day. Middle- and long-acting benzodiazepines were prescribed strikingly often and used for long-term treatment. Antidepressan ts, taken regularly by 3.6 % of the nursing homes residents and 2.6 % of th e residential home residents, are considered to be under-used. The introduc tion of new substances (e.g. atypical neuroleptics, SSRI's) which might be more appropriate in vulnerable and multimorbide elderly persons was found t o be delayed. Conclusions: The treatment of mental disorders in residential and nursing homes lags far behind the " state of the art" and demonstrates the need for gerontopsychiatric input into institutional care for the elde rly.