Abstract
Little is known about the prevalence and correlates of psychotropic use in community-dwelling elders with dementia. Baseline data from 285 community-dwelling elders with a research classification of dementia (based on a neuropsychological battery of 4 tests) and their knowledgeable informants enrolled in the observational Memory and Medical Care Study were analyzed. A total of 33.3% of subjects with a research classification of dementia were clinically diagnosed, 28.8% used at least 1 psychotropic drug, and 61.8% had at least 1 behavioral or psychological symptom of dementia (BPSD). Presence of BPSD was associated with a higher likelihood of a clinical diagnosis of dementia. Multivariate logistic regression showed a clinical diagnosis of dementia, not BPSD, was associated with psychotropic use; clinical recognition of dementia appears to be an intermediate step between presence of BPSD and prescription of psychotropics. In addition, most community-dwelling elders meeting the research criteria for dementia were not clinically diagnosed, despite contact with a physician (89%) in the previous year.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 50-57 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2007 |
Keywords
- Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia
- Community diagnosis
- Dementia
- Elderly
- Psychotropic drug
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Psychiatry and Mental health