Objective To determine the prevalence of psychotropic drug use in very old
persons with and without dementia in two time periods, and describe the pat
terns of psychotropic drug use between institutions and non-institutions.
Methods Descriptive analysis on a sample of subjects aged 81+ from a popula
tion-based study in Stockholm, Sweden. Psychotropic drug use data were coll
ected from the 1987-1989 and 1994-1996 periods of the study. The diagnosis
of dementia was based on the DSM III-R.
Results About 41% of the subjects used at least one psychotropic drug in bo
th periods. Women and subjects in institutions more commonly used psychotro
pic drugs. The most commonly reported were, in rank order, hypnotics-sedati
ves, anxiolytics, antipsychotics and antidepressants. Hypnotics-sedatives a
nd anxiolytics were the most commonly used in both institutions and non-ins
titutions. More persons with dementia used psychotropic drugs in both perio
ds. The use of newer drugs, for example, SSRI, was evident. Multivariate an
alyses showed increased risk for psychotropic drug use among subjects in in
stitutions.
Conclusions This study confirms the high rate of psychotropic drug use in t
he very old, particularly in persons with dementia. Psychotropic drug use w
as high among subjects living in institutions. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wile
y & Sons, Ltd.