More than half of persons with Alzheimer's disease aged 90 years or more use psychotropic drugs
56% of persons aged 90 years or more with Alzheimer's disease use psychotropic drugs whereas the same figure was 48% among younger persons with Alzheimer's disease and 38% among those aged 90 years or more but without Alzheimer's disease. Psychotropic drugs include antipsychotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines and related drugs which are used for anxiety and insomnia in short-term treatment. On the contrary, persons aged 90 years or more with Alzheimer's disease used less frequently antidementia drugs (63%) when compared with younger persons with the same disease (72%). Psychotropic drugs are related to significant risk of adverse effects among older users and for this reason, very frequent use of these drugs among the oldest persons is concerning. The need and safety of drug use should be regularly assessed. Drug use was studied within MEDALZ study cohort within six months after the diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease in Finland. Data for 67,215 persons...