International journal of geriatric psychiatry
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Apr 2011
Antipsychotic prescribing to older people living in care homes and the community in England and Wales.
Excessive use of antipsychotic medication by older people is an international concern, but there is limited comparative information on their use in different residential settings. This paper describes and compares antipsychotic prescribing to older people in care homes and the community in England and Wales. ⋯ Despite safety concerns, antipsychotic prescribing is markedly higher in care homes than in the community, and strongly associated with dementia in both settings. In England and Wales, we estimate that 54 000 older care home patients and 50 000 community patients receive antipsychotic medication without a diagnosis of severe mental illness with important implications for health and social services.
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Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Apr 2011
Cardiovascular disease and death associated with depression and antidepressants in the Melbourne Longitudinal Studies on Healthy Ageing (MELSHA).
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death may be associated with depression and antidepressants, but published findings remain equivocal. The authors aimed to determine the risk of CVD incidence and death associated with several classifications of depression. ⋯ Depression related predictors were not independently associated with CVD incidence or death in older people. Antidepressants were not associated with CVD or premature death, accounting for whether participants' remained symptomatic or not. Depression co-occurs with and might be partly caused by chronic disease and poor functional health.