[Overuse of psychotropic drugs in seniors]

Seniors take three times as many drugs as the general population and are the group most vulnerable to the adverse effects of drug therapy. For this reason, it is extremely important that they receive support to help them understand and manage their medications. To highlight the major problems in managing medication, determine the risk factors and prevent overdosing of psychotropic drugs in seniors, the authors carried out a study of 549 senior rural residents living at home. The study findings indicate that 19 per cent of people aged 65 or over take no drugs at all, while 24 per cent have five prescriptions or more. Two thirds of respondents (65.7%) who had only one prescription were well informed about their medication, compared with just 14 per cent of those taking five drugs or more. One quarter (27%) said they never received information about their prescription, while 17.3 per cent reported that the labels on their prescription bottles were useless because the print was too small, too pale or because they could not read them. Close to half the respondents (42.6%) reported occasionally forgetting whether they had taken their medication. The findings also indicate that the respondents' sex, their perception of their personal state of health, the population density, and the depression index are all major variables that significantly relate to use of psychotropic drugs. All of the findings identify the specific needs of seniors and suggest a focus for nursing intervention.