BMJ 1996;312:1668-1669 (29 June)

Letters

Use may be justified if other factors have been considered

EDITOR,--The report by Alice McGrath and Graham Jackson1 warrants further comment. They report that 88% of nursing home residents received neuroleptics inappropriately. They did not report psychiatric diagnoses nor reasons for the prescription. Mann et al found that nearly half the residents of local authority homes were receiving psychotropic medication, but also reported on the high levels of psychiatric morbidity among this group.2

Delusions and hallucinations are not limited to severe functional disorders but are common in dementia. They increase distress in the sufferer and the burden on carers and may be associated with aggression.3

Agitation, violence, wandering, restlessness, and sleep disturbance may occur in 30-50% of patients with Alzheimer's disease4 and often lead to admission to an institution. These behaviours are common reasons for referral to old age psychiatry services.

The management of troublesome behaviours in dementia includes a search for physical, environmental, and psychological precipitants. The management should . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Survey of neuroleptic prescribing in residents of nursing homes in Glasgow
Alice M McGrath and Graham A Jackson
BMJ 1996 312: 611-612. [Extract] [Full Text]

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ