Abstract
Antipsychotic medications are frequently prescribed to assisted living (AL) residents who have dementia, although there is a lack of information about the potential side effects and adverse events of these medications among this population. Oversight and monitoring by family members is an important component of AL care, and it is important to understand family awareness of antipsychotic use and reports of potential side effects and adverse events. This cross-sectional, descriptive study of family members of 283 residents with dementia receiving antipsychotic medications in 91 AL communities found high rates (93%) of symptoms that could be potential side effects and a 6% rate of potential adverse events. The majority of families were aware their relative was taking an antipsychotic. Findings suggest that obtaining family perspectives of potential side effects and adverse events related to medication use may contribute to overall improvement in the safety of AL residents living with dementia.
Highlights
Assisted living (AL) provides housing and supportive care to more than 811,000 people in 28,900 communities in the United States (Harris-Kojetin et al, 2019)
Investigating this discrepancy, we found of the 283 residents, 174 (61.5%) had either a formal, chart-based diagnosis of anxiety or a family member report of anxiousness, and 49 (28.2%) had agreement/congruence
81% of families reported that staff had provided care for behaviors such as aggression, pacing, or resisting care, and 85% reported that medication had been administered for the same behaviors
Summary
Assisted living (AL) provides housing and supportive care to more than 811,000 people in 28,900 communities in the United States (Harris-Kojetin et al, 2019). It has become the primary residential long-term care provider for people with dementia, with a recent study finding that dementia is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions (Harris-Kojetin et al, 2019), others documenting that 42% of residents have moderate/severe dementia (Ma et al, 2014), and 90% have some degree of cognitive impairment (Zimmerman et al, 2007). Dementia is associated with progressive decline that may cause behaviors such as aggression, wandering, agitation, and sleep disturbances (Peters et al, 2012). The potency (concentration) and prescribed high doses of antipsychotics have been associated with side effects (College of Psychiatric & Neurologic Pharmacists, 2019)
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