Nursing Homes' Use of Antipsychotics Varies Widely

A Canadian study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, finds wide variation in the use of antipsychotic drugs across nursing homes.
The investigators reviewed use of the drugs in about 47,000 residents of nearly 500 Ontario nursing homes in December 2003. Overall, 32% of residents were given an antipsychotic drug, ranging from 21% in the nursing homes in the lowest quintile of use to 44% in the highest.
Those in the nursing homes with the highest rates were three times more likely to be dispensed an antipsychotic drug, compared with those in the facilities that dispensed the least. A similar threefold difference in rates was seen both in residents with psychoses or dementia and those without.
The authors said their data suggest that "the decision to prescribe an antipsychotic therapy appears to be related to the nursing home environment" rather than the treatment's clinical indication.

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