Psychotropic drugs in group homes: prevalence and relation to demographic/psychiatric variables

All 1,101 clients residing in over 120 group homes of a residential services agency were surveyed on one date for presence of psychotropic medication. In all, 27% received one or more psychotropic drugs for behavioral or emotional disorders. Disorders and target behaviors listed for each drug group were examined and the relations between drug groups and diagnostic/demographic variables analyzed. In addition, logistic regression analyses were used to examine subject variable/drug relations further and the likelihood of receiving a specific class of medication given the presence of a subject variable. Certain physical and sensory handicaps were associated with less medication use. Generally speaking, the existence of DSM diagnoses (especially psychosis and mood disorder) and certain target behaviors were associated with greater medication use. In the main, medication use was consistent with known or presumptive indications for the respective drug groups, although unestablished applications were also observed.