Dementia patients are loading up on unnecessary painkillers and sleeping pills

Potentially inappropriate or unnecessary medications included sleeping tablets, pain drugs, depression drugs and acid reflux drugs (proton pump inhibitors).

Medications such as sleeping pills, painkillers, depression drugs and antacids are unnecessary and inappropriate in dementia patients. And a recent study has found that their use has increased over a period of time.

For the study published in the Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, researchers from Yale University and University of Kentucky in the US studied nearly 2,500 people. Following a diagnosis of dementia in older people, medication use increased by 11% in a year and the use of potentially inappropriate medications increased by 17%, said Danijela Gnjidic, from the University of Sydney in Australia.

Potentially inappropriate or unnecessary medications included sleeping tablets, pain drugs, depression drugs and acid reflux drugs (proton pump inhibitors). “These medications are typically recommended for short term use but are commonly used long term by people with dementia,” Gnjidic said.

“A number of reasons may account for this, including inadequate guidelines, lack of time during physician patient encounters, diminished decision-making capacity, difficulties with comprehension and communication, and difficulties in establishing goals of care,” she said.

“Deprescribing unnecessary medications may improve an individual’s quality of life and can reduce unnecessary healthcare cost,” Gnjidic said.

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