Most antipsychotics given in dementia unnecessary

摘要

Up to three quarters of elderly people with dementia treated with antipsychotics are prescribed them unnecessarily, leading to an excess of around 1,800 deaths annually in the UK, according to the author of a new report, commissioned by the Department of Health. Sube Banerjee, professor of mental health and ageing at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, wants to see the level of inappropriate antipsychotic prescribing reduced by two thirds over the next three years. He has also highlighted the input of pharmacists as one of the solutions that primary care trusts can use to tackle the problem within care homes.