scholarly journals Use of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: Prevalence and Appropriateness

Author(s):  
Dirk O.C. Rijksen ◽  
Sytse U. Zuidema ◽  
Esther C. de Haas

Background: Guidelines worldwide recommend restricted prescription of benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRAs), i.e., benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, for the treatment of dementia-associated behavioral and psychological symptoms and insomnia. Objective: To assess the prevalence and appropriateness of BZRA use among nursing home residents with dementia. Methods: This is a post-hoc analysis of BZRA prescriptions from two intervention studies on psychotropic drug use, conducted from 2016 to 2018. It includes 1,111 residents of dementia special care units from 24 Dutch long-term care organizations. We assessed the prevalence of use of continuous and as-needed BZRA prescriptions and their association with registered symptoms. Continuous BZRA prescriptions were evaluated for appropriateness, i.e., whether indication, dosage, duration, and evaluation accorded with guidelines for the treatment of challenging behavior in dementia and sleep disorders. Results: The prevalence of BZRA use is 39.2%(95%CI: 36.3%–42.0%): continuous 22.9%; only as-needed 16.3%. Combinations of preferred BZRAs and appropriate indications occur in 19.0%of continuous anxiolytic prescriptions and 44.8%of hypnotic prescriptions. Frequently registered inappropriate indications are aggression/agitation for anxiolytics (continuous: 75.7%; as-needed: 75.2%) and nighttime agitation for hypnotics (continuous: 40.3%; as-needed: 26.7%). None of the continuous prescriptions with appropriate indications were appropriate for all other items. For most of the prescriptions, duration and time to evaluation exceeded 4 weeks. Conclusion: BZRA use in nursing home residents with dementia is highly frequent. A large proportion of prescriptions do not follow the guidelines with regard to indication, exceed the recommended duration and are not evaluated in a timely manner. The discrepancy between evidence-based guidelines and daily practice calls for an exploration of factors maintaining inappropriate use.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyi Xu ◽  
Shu-Wen Tu ◽  
Chia-Chin Lin

Abstract Background The proportion of hospital deaths has declined in the past few decades, while the proportions of nursing home deaths have increased. This trend of increasing deaths in long-term care facilities underlines the importance of improving end-of-life care provisions in these settings to meet individual preferences and needs. Under these circumstances, a comprehensive understanding of end-of-life care preferences in local nursing home residents can help healthcare professionals and policymakers develop strategies to increase the advance directive completion rate and quality of care. This study aimed to explore and compare advance directive and end-of-life care preferences of nursing home residents in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Methods A structured questionnaire was developed by the research team to investigate advance directive and end-of-life care preferences in older Chinese nursing home residents. Nursing home residents with frail or pre-frail status and over the age of 64 were invited to participate in the study, and information on demographics, functional status, advance directive experiences, and end-of-life care expectations was collected through questionnaire interviews. Results A total of 325 eligible participants from 32 facilities completed the survey, including 238 older residents in Hong Kong and 87 in Taiwan. A significantly lower proportion of the Hong Kong residents had completed an advance directive compared with the Taiwanese (3 vs. 13%, p = 0.001). Among participants who did not have an advance directive, 46% of the Taiwanese participants said they would consider completing one in the future, compared with 20% of the Hong Kong participants (p < 0.001). A total of 79% of the Hong Kong participants and 80% of the Taiwanese participants responded that prolonging life in the given hypothetical dying scenario was “not important” (p = 0.76). Only 14% of participants in Hong Kong and 18% of participants in Taiwan reported prior occurrence of end-of-life care discussions with family members or health professionals (p = 0.37). Conclusions This paper adds evidence in support of improving end-of-life communication and the advance directive completion rate in nursing homes in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Further research is necessary to explore cross-cultural differences in end-of-life preferences and its applications in predicting decision-making and the quality of end-of-life care.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Patrick Fehling ◽  
Theo Dassen

Background and aim: Physical mobility is often described as a basic prerequisite for independence, self-determination, and social participation. Older people, particularly those in long-term care facilities, are more often affected by the loss of their mobility. However, the prevalence of the mobility disabilities of nursing home residents and their association with demographic and care-specific/medical factors have so far been studied less. This prevalence study should investigate a possible association of mobility disability with age, BMI, multimorbidity, fall risk, and social participation.Methods: The prevalence study covered the data of residents in 30 German residential care facilities (RCFs). Trained staff nurses used a standardised instrument to collect data about the age, obesity, medical diagnoses, the fall risk, the level of mobility disability, and the need for supporting the social participation of the residents.Results: The representative sample included 2,066 nursing home residents, of whom 81.5% required support in their mobility. The level of a mobility disability or the need for a support in matters of mobility by others was not associated either with age, with the BMI, or with the fall risk of the participants. The groups with higher mobility disability included the more multimorbid participants with more difficult medical diagnoses, and these had a higher need for support in their social participation.Conclusions: It may be that professional care must reflect the premature link between older and obese patients with mobility disability. In addition to nursing diagnoses, medical diagnoses should necessarily be integrated into the nursing assessment. The association between the level of mobility disability and the fall risk, which is often mentioned in the literature, should be critically reflected. Nursing home residents should be informed that there is a possible association between their mobility disability and their social participation. 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Soldevila ◽  
Núria Prat ◽  
Miquel À. Mas ◽  
Mireia Massot ◽  
Ramon Miralles ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Covid-19 pandemic has particularly affected older people living in Long-term Care settings. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort of Long-term care nursing home residents between March first and June thirty, 2020, who were ≥ 65 years old and on whom at last one PCR test was performed. Socio-demographic, comorbidities, and clinical data were recorded. Facility size and community incidence of SARS-CoV-2 were also considered.Results: A total of 8021 participants were included from 168 facilities. Mean age was 86.4 years (SD = 7.4). Women represented 74.1%. SARS-CoV-2 infection was detected in 27.7% of participants, and the overall case fatality rate was 11.3% (24.9% among those with a positive PCR test). Epidemiological factors related to risk of infection were larger facility size (pooled aOR 1.73; P < .001), higher community incidence (pooled aOR 1.67, P = .04), leading to a higher risk than the clinical factor of low level of functional dependence (aOR 1.22, P = 0.03). Epidemiological risk factors associated with mortality were male gender (aOR 1.75; P < .001), age (pooled aOR 1.16; P < .001), and higher community incidence (pooled aOR 1.19, P = < .001). There was evidence of clustering for facility and health area when considering the risk of infection and mortality (P < .001). Conclusions: Our results suggest a complex interplay between structural and individual factors regarding Covid-19 infection and its impact on mortality in nursing-home residents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 57-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward H Wagner

Residents in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities comprise a large percentage of the deaths from Covid 19. Is this inevitable or are there problems with NHs and their care that increase the susceptibility of their residents. The first U.S. cluster of cases involved the residents, staff, and visitors of a Seattle-area nursing home. Study of this cluster suggested that infected staff members were transmitting the disease to residents. The quality of nursing home care has long been a concern and attributed to chronic underfunding and resulting understaffing. Most NH care is delivered by minimally trained nursing assistants whose low pay and limited benefits compel them to work in multiple long-term care settings, increasing their risk of infection, and work while ill. More comparative studies of highly infected long-term care facilities with those organizations that were able to better protect their residents are urgently needed. Early evidence suggests that understaffing of registered nurses may increase the risk of larger outbreaks.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S709-S709
Author(s):  
Hemalkumar B Mehta ◽  
Yong-Fang Kuo ◽  
Jordan Westra ◽  
Mukaila Raji ◽  
James S Goodwin

Abstract We examined opioid use in long-term care nursing home residents with dementia. This retrospective cohort study used Minimum Data Set linked Medicare data, 2011-2016, and included long-term care episodes for residents 65+ years who survived 100+ days each year (592,211 episodes for 256,207 residents). Cognitive status at first annual assessment was classified as none/mild, moderate and severe impairment. Overall opioid use, prolonged opioid use (prescription supply 90+ days) and long-acting opioid use were identified from Medicare part D. Descriptive statistics were used to describe opioid use by cognitive impairment. Cochrane Armitage trends test was used to determine trends in opioid use. 114,622 (19%) patients had severe and 129,257 (22%) had moderate dementia. Overall opioid (none/mild=15.4%, moderate=13.9%, severe=9%), prolonged opioid (none/mild=5.2%, moderate=4.5%, severe=3.2%) and long-acting opioid use (none/mild=1.1%, moderate=0.9%, severe=0.3% ) were lower in patients with advanced dementia. Opioid use was significantly higher in females and Whites and varied by states. Substantial increase was found in overall opioid and prolonged opioid use from 2011 to 2016, with greater increase in none/mild and moderate dementia patients. For example, prolonged opioid use increased by 69% in none/mild and 71% in moderate dementia patients compared to 52% in severe dementia patients (p&lt;0.0001). Long-acting opioid use decreased, with a greater decline in none/mild (69%) and moderate (71%) dementia patients compared to severe dementia patients (58%) (p&lt;0.0001). Contrary to decreasing opioid use in community setting, overall and prolonged opioid use increased in nursing home residents. Future studies should identify the reasons behind increased use.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 1250-1257
Author(s):  
Sharon M. Casey ◽  
Ralph V. Katz ◽  
Shulamite Huang ◽  
Barbara J. Smith

The purpose of this follow-up Delphi survey was to have an expert panel of 31 academic geriatric physicians, geriatric nurses, and medical directors of nursing homes evaluate the original timeline set to avoid oral neglect of nursing home residents. The Oral Neglect in Institutionalized Elderly (ONiIE) timelines defined oral neglect as having occurred when >7 days for acute oral diseases/conditions or >34 days for chronic oral disease/conditions had passed between initial diagnosis and offering access to dental care to the long-term care (LTC) nursing home resident. The results of this follow-up Delphi survey validated those originally defined ONiIE timelines as 90% of this panel agreed with the original timelines. This ONiIE definition adds a broad-based validation for the ONiIE timelines for setting an oral health standard of care for institutionalized elderly residents of nursing homes and should now be used to protect the vulnerable elderly residing in LTC nursing homes.


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