What is it about?
The article reports actual practice of prescribing antipsychotic medication in a long-stay facility to elderly patients with chronic schizophrenia, dementia or other chronic psychiatric conditions. This practice is then analyzed against contemporary treatment guidelines.
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Why is it important?
The study showed that antipsychotic medication was overprescribed, rarely re-evaluated, and partly obsolete, since many patients were deprived of second-generation drugs with wider spectrum of action and less adverse effects.
Perspectives
The study initiated local changes in prescribing practice, improving degree of appropriateness and congruence with recommendations given by contemporary treatment guidelines. Cross-sectional studies of prescribing practices in psychiatry are important for initiation of quality-improving interventions in healthcare.
Prof Slobodan M Jankovic
Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Drug utilisation in a Serbian long‐stay pyschogeriatric facility, Australasian Journal on Ageing, September 2002, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2002.tb00439.x.
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