To the Editor: We thank Hilmer and Gnjidic for highlighting the excessive use of psychotropic medications in Australian nursing homes.1 We recently completed a national psychotropic audit of over 9000 nursing home medication reviews conducted during the 2011–12 financial year. Our results were alarming: even after excluding residents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, more than a quarter of residents reviewed (27%) were taking antipsychotics. Concerningly, 41% of all residents reviewed were prescribed benzodiazepines.
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- 1. Hilmer SN, Gnjidic D. Rethinking psychotropics in nursing homes. Med J Aust 2013; 198: 77. <MJA full text>
- 2. Cornege-Blokland E, Kleijer BC, Hertogh CM, van Marum RJ. Reasons to prescribe antipsychotics for the behavioral symptoms of dementia: a survey in Dutch nursing homes among physicians, nurses, and family caregivers. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2012; 13: 80.e1-80.e6.
- 3. Gilbert A, Owen N, Innes JM, Sansom L. Trial of an intervention to reduce chronic benzodiazepine use among residents of aged-care accommodation. Aust N Z J Med 1993; 23: 343-347.
- 4. Westbury J, Jackson S, Gee P, Peterson G. An effective approach to decrease antipsychotic and benzodiazepine use in nursing homes: the RedUSe project. Int Psychogeriatr 2010; 22: 26-36.
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