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Effect of Age on the Profile of Psychotropic Users: Results from the 2010 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
Author(s) -
Maust Donovan T.,
Oslin David W.,
Marcus Steven C.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.12640
Subject(s) - medicine , antipsychotic , mood , psychiatry , medical prescription , sedative/hypnotic , ambulatory , antidepressant , anxiolytic , sedative , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , anxiety , pharmacology
Objectives To describe the effect of age on psychotropic coprescribing, psychiatric diagnoses, and other clinical characteristics. Design Analysis of the N ational A mbulatory M edical C are S urvey. Setting A national sample of outpatient visits to physicians (N = 2,406) in office‐based practice in 2010. Participants Adults prescribed psychotropic medication (N = 31,229). Measurements Office visits at which antidepressant, anxiolytic, sedative, hypnotic, antipsychotic, or mood stabilizer medications were prescribed were grouped according to participant age (21–64, ≥65) and then compared within each medication class on visit characteristics. and then compared according to variables including provider type, sex, and race; presence of diagnosed mental illness; prescription of other psychotropic agents; total number of chronic conditions; time spent with physician; and total number of medications. Results In 2010, there were 90.3 million antidepressant office visits; 77.7 million anxiolytic/sedative/hypnotic visits; 15.5 million antipsychotic visits; and 9.5 million mood stabilizer visits. Nonpsychiatrists prescribed the majority of psychotropic medications for every class and age group; 17.3% of older adult antipsychotic visits and 44.9% of younger adult antipsychotic visits were to a psychiatrist (chi‐square = 19.58, P  = .001). Older adults in every medication class were less likely to have a diagnosed mental disorder. Conclusion Older adults prescribed psychotropic medication were less likely to have a diagnosed mental disorder than their younger counterparts. Efforts to promote quality prescribing should seek to minimize nonspecific use of psychotropic medication.

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