Psychotropics among the home-dwelling elderly-increasing trends

Objective To assess the level of and changes in the use of psychotropics among the home‐dwelling elderly in the 1990s. Methods A descriptive analysis based on data from two cross‐sectional interview and health examination surveys of elderly persons aged 64 years or over conducted in Lieto, a typical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of geriatric psychiatry 2002-09, Vol.17 (9), p.874-883
Main Authors: Linjakumpu, T., Hartikainen, S., Klaukka, T., Koponen, H., Kivelä, S.-L., Isoaho, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
community
Cross-Sectional Studies
drug therapy
Drug Therapy - statistics & numerical data
Drug Therapy - trends
elderly
Female
Geriatrics
Homebound Persons
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders - drug therapy
Mental Disorders - epidemiology
Middle Aged
Neuropharmacology
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
primary care
Primary Health Care
Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease)
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychopharmacology
psychotropic
Psychotropic Drugs - administration & dosage
Scandinavian and Nordic Countries - epidemiology
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Summary:Objective To assess the level of and changes in the use of psychotropics among the home‐dwelling elderly in the 1990s. Methods A descriptive analysis based on data from two cross‐sectional interview and health examination surveys of elderly persons aged 64 years or over conducted in Lieto, a typical semi‐rural Finnish municipality, in 1990–91 and 1998–99. National prescription data were utilized to compare the use of psychotropics in the late 1990s by all Finnish home‐dwelling elderly and the elderly in Lieto. In Lieto drug information was obtained from 1131 persons in 1990–91 and from 1197 in 1998–99, and the mean age of the informants was 73 years in both surveys. The brand names of the prescription drugs (both irregular and regular medication) taken by each interviewee during seven days prior to the interview were recorded and categorized by the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system. Results Every fourth person was taking at least one psychotropic drug in both surveys. Most users were on regular psychotropic medication. The use of hypnotics and antidepressants increased most during the study period. Polypharmacy and the use of psychotropics were most prevalent among those aged 85 years or over, with women predominating. Concomitant use of two or more psychotropics increased statistically significantly from 7% to 10% between the surveys. The young elderly, aged 64–71 years, used cyclic antidepressants equally commonly in both surveys. None of the young elderly used new atypical antipsychotics in 1998–99. Conclusions Psychotropics tend to be overprescribed and overused among the elderly, a group at the highest risk of adverse drug reactions. The tendency of prescribing for the elderly is not going in a better direction. New‐generation psychotropics were not used. The need for long‐standing use of psychotropics should be assessed regularly. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0885-6230
1099-1166
DOI:10.1002/gps.712