Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2026
04:13
Using a Real-Time Locating System to Measure Walking Activity Associated with Wandering Behaviors Among Institutionalized Older Adults
Published on: February 8, 2019
Nursing home resources and tranquilizer use among the institutionalized elderly
1School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
|September 1, 1991
Summary
Skilled nursing facilities often overprescribe tranquilizers, especially in those with fewer resources. Environmental factors in facilities significantly impact appropriate psychotropic drug use for elderly residents.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric pharmacology
- Nursing home quality improvement
- Psychotropic medication management
Background:
- Tranquilizer prescribing and use in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) is a complex issue.
- Understanding factors influencing prescribing patterns is crucial for resident well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between resident and facility characteristics and tranquilizer prescribing and use in SNFs.
- To identify factors associated with inappropriate tranquilizer use.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of medication profiles and pharmacy billing records from seven SNFs.
- Analysis of data from 760 eligible residents aged 65 years or older.
Main Results:
- 28% of residents received a tranquilizer, with 19% experiencing excess use (e.g., long duration, polymedicine).
- Facilities with inadequate staffing and resources showed significantly higher rates of tranquilizer orders, administration, and deviations from drug-use criteria.
- Higher deviation rates were observed in residents with mental disorders, younger residents, and Medicaid recipients.
Conclusions:
- Environmental factors, particularly staffing and resource availability, significantly influence psychotropic drug prescribing and use in SNFs.
- Current efforts to improve psychotropic drug prescribing require greater attention to these environmental influences.
Related Concept Videos
01:14CNS Depressants: Barbiturates and Benzodiazepines
CNS depressants include drugs from the category of barbiturates and benzodiazepines. They are valuable medications for managing anxiety disorders and insomnia. Barbiturates, once used to induce and maintain sleep, have been replaced mainly by benzodiazepines due to barbiturate's toxicity, tolerance, and overdose risks. They interact with GABAA receptors, leading to sedation at low doses and potentially coma and death at higher doses. Phenobarbital, a long-acting barbiturate, possesses...
01:23Sedatives and Hypnotics: Overview
Sedatives are drugs that alleviate anxiety, while hypnotics induce sleep. Both classes of medication suppress neuronal activity, leading to a calming effect for sedatives and facilitating sleep for hypnotics.
Sedative-hypnotics are categorized into barbiturates, benzodiazepines (BZDs), and non-benzodiazepines or Z-drugs. These drugs work by suppressing central nervous system activity, and this suppression is dose-dependent. Older sedative medications, like barbiturates, follow a linear curve in...
Sedative-hypnotics are categorized into barbiturates, benzodiazepines (BZDs), and non-benzodiazepines or Z-drugs. These drugs work by suppressing central nervous system activity, and this suppression is dose-dependent. Older sedative medications, like barbiturates, follow a linear curve in...
01:19Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines have both sedative and hypnotic properties. They include compounds such as diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax). Structurally, their cores are similar, consisting of the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring, but they share a common mechanism of action in the central nervous system (CNS).
Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. They bind to the GABAA receptor, increasing its affinity for GABA, which opens chloride...
Benzodiazepines work by enhancing the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. They bind to the GABAA receptor, increasing its affinity for GABA, which opens chloride...
01:17Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Miscellaneous Agents
Sedatives and hypnotics encompass a wide range of substances, each with its unique mechanism of action, uses, and potential adverse effects.
Melatonin congeners like ramelteon (Rozerem) and tasimelteon (Hetlioz) selectively bind to melatonin receptors (MT1 and MT2) and thus mimic the actions of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. Tasimelteon is primarily used for non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder, common in blind patients. They are also used to treat conditions like insomnia...
Melatonin congeners like ramelteon (Rozerem) and tasimelteon (Hetlioz) selectively bind to melatonin receptors (MT1 and MT2) and thus mimic the actions of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. Tasimelteon is primarily used for non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder, common in blind patients. They are also used to treat conditions like insomnia...
01:15Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients
Elderly individuals encompass a diverse population with varying degrees of age-related physiological changes. Defining the elderly presents challenges, as the geriatric population is often arbitrarily categorized as individuals older than 65. However, many individuals in this group lead active and healthy lives, with an increasing number surpassing 85 years and falling into the older elderly category. Physiological changes associated with aging impact performance capacity and homeostatic...
01:27Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
Age-related pharmacokinetic changes are extensively documented, but understanding age-related pharmacodynamic alterations is relatively limited. This knowledge gap can be partly attributed to the complexity of developing appropriate measures of drug responses compared to bioanalytical methods for determining drug concentrations.Most information regarding age-related differences in human pharmacodynamics originates from cross-sectional studies. However, these studies assume that observed mean...