Dementia strategy has not cut antipsychotic prescribing in care homes, study finds

A national dementia strategy including recommendations to limit inappropriate use of antipsychotics has not reduced prescribing of these drugs in residential care homes in England, shows a study assessing the policy’s impact.1

The “off label” use of antipsychotics for behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia has caused concern for some time. The national dementia strategy, launched in the United Kingdom in 2009, recommended that any prescribing of these drugs in people with dementia should …