A community survey

Abstract

In a survey of drug prescribing, we interviewed 41 dementia patients and 37 normal elderly, both groups living in their homes. We found that 83 percent of the dementia patients and more than half (54 percent) of the normal elderly were receiving medications. The use of psychotropic medications was mainly limited to the dementia group, who continued to show psychopathology as measured by the BPRS (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) in spite of pharmacotherapy. The degree of dementia measured by Mini-Mental State examination1 was significantly correlated with the degree of psychopathology measured by Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS).2 Polypharmacy (use of multiple psychotropic drugs) was not a problem in our sample. There appears to be a resistance of the psychiatric symptoms associated with dementia to respond to prescribed psychotropic medications.