Objectives

Care provision for persons with dementia can be rewarding yet may disrupt caregiver's sleep health. Using the National Health & Aging Trends Study and the National Study of Caregiving, we examine care receiver and caregiver contextual factors, caregiver health and psychological wellbeing as predictors of caregivers' nighttime awakenings.

Methods

The sample for this cross-sectional study included 451 caregivers for individuals with dementia surveyed by telephone.

Results

Nighttime awakenings (1 item measure of waking and not being able to return to sleep) almost every night were reported by 16% of caregivers and 10% reported that helping the care receiver caused their sleep to be interrupted most nights. In a multinomial logistic regression, caregivers' greater nighttime awakenings were associated with caring for care recipients with higher fall risk, as well as caregiver characteristics of more chronic medical conditions and emotional difficulty of the care role.

Conclusions

Emotional caregiving difficulties were associated with nighttime awakenings even accounting for caregivers' health and care receivers' disability. Thus, interventions improving caregiver distress may improve sleep health.

Clinical implications

Clinicians should screen caregivers for nighttime awakenings so that evidence-based interventions and treatments can be implemented to prevent persistent sleep disturbances.

Objectives

To compare the provision of mental health care to older adults with that provided to younger adults.

Design

Analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Setting

Visits to office-based physicians in the United States, 2007 to 2010 (n = 100,661 visits).

Participants

Individuals with an outpatient visit resulting in a mental health diagnosis or treatment, defined as a visit resulting in a mental disorder diagnosis, at which a psychotropic medication was prescribed, to a psychiatrist, or including psychotherapy.

Measurements

The number of each type of mental healthcare visit was estimated according to participant age (21 to 64, ≥65), along with the percentage this represented of all office-based care and the annual visit rate per 100 population. Within each visit type, age groups were compared according to clinical and demographic characteristics such as sex, diagnosed mental illness, and use of psychotropic agents.

Results

Older adults had a smaller proportion than younger adults of visits with a mental disorder diagnosis (4.8% vs 9.5%, chi-square = 228.21, P < .001), to a psychiatrist (0.9% vs 4.0%, chi-square = 233.76, P < .001), and including psychotherapy (0.6% vs 2.3%, chi-square = 57.65, P < .001). The percentage of older adult psychotropic visits was slightly smaller than of younger adult visits (18.1% vs 19.2%, chi-square = 5.33, P = .02). Older adults had a higher rate of psychotropic visits (121.4 per 100 population) than younger adults (56.8 per 100 population).

Conclusion

Less care of older adults is from psychiatrists or incorporates psychotherapy. Older adults have a far higher rate of psychotropic use than younger adults on a per-population basis. Addressing the mental healthcare needs of older adults will require care in nonspecialty settings.

Importance

Dementia affects 10% of those 65 years or older and 35% of those 90 years or older, often with profound cognitive, behavioral, and functional consequences. As the baby boomers and subsequent generations age, effective preventive and treatment strategies will assume increasing importance.

Observations

Preventive measures are aimed at modifiable risk factors, many of which have been identified. To date, no randomized clinical trial data conclusively confirm that interventions of any kind can prevent dementia. Nevertheless, addressing risk factors may have other health benefits and should be considered. Alzheimer disease can be treated with cholinesterase inhibitors, memantine, and antiamyloid immunomodulators, with the last modestly slowing cognitive and functional decline in people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer disease. Cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine may benefit persons with other types of dementia, including dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson disease dementia, vascular dementia, and dementia due to traumatic brain injury. Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are best treated with nonpharmacologic management, including identifying and mitigating the underlying causes and individually tailored behavioral approaches. Psychotropic medications have minimal evidence of efficacy for treating these symptoms and are associated with increased mortality and clinically meaningful risks of falls and cognitive decline. Several emerging prevention and treatment strategies hold promise to improve dementia care in the future.

Conclusions and relevance

Although current prevention and treatment approaches to dementia have been less than optimally successful, substantial investments in dementia research will undoubtedly provide new answers to reducing the burden of dementia worldwide.

Objectives

Despite evidence for many potential risks, use of benzodiazepines (BZDs) among older adults is common. The authors evaluated the available evidence for BZD effectiveness and tolerability for use in older adults in three psychiatric conditions for which BZDs are commonly prescribed: insomnia, anxiety disorders, and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Design

Electronic databases, including PubMed/MEDLINE, were searched to identify articles that (1) included patients ≥50 years of age, (2) focused on patients diagnosed with insomnia, anxiety disorders, or behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, and (3) were either a randomized, placebo-controlled trial or a randomized trial comparing a BZD with either another psychotropic medication or psychotherapy.

Results

Thirty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. Of the three clinical indications evaluated, treatment of insomnia had the greatest available evidence for use of BZDs among older adults, with 21 of 25 trials demonstrating improved sleep outcomes with use of BZDs. Only one trial was found to meet eligibility criteria for BZD use in anxiety disorders, demonstrating benefit over placebo. Five studies for use in behavioral disturbances in dementia were included, of which only one demonstrated improvement over placebo.

Conclusion

This systematic review suggests that BZD prescribing to older adults is significantly in excess of what the available evidence suggests is appropriate. Future trials should focus on efforts to reduce both acute and chronic BZD use among older adults while improving access to effective non-pharmacologic treatment alternatives.

Objective

The study compared distress levels among two groups of older adults who had been newly prescribed an antidepressant by their primary care physician, those with major depressive disorder (MDD) and those without MDD.

Methods

This analysis used a convenience sample of participants (N=231) who had been newly prescribed an antidepressant in a randomized controlled trial of a program to improve antidepressant adherence and depression outcomes among older adults (≥55). After determining the proportion of participants with and without MDD (using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV), the authors compared groups on demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics, including the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey physical and mental component summary scores (PCS and MCS). Logistic regression was used to test the association of these characteristics with antidepressant use in the absence of MDD.

Results

Most (57%) participants did not have MDD. This group was older (69.4 versus 64.7, p<.001), had a larger proportion of white participants (82% versus 56%, p<.001), and reported better physical (PCS, 43.4 versus 39.9, p=.03) and emotional (MCS, 40.2 versus 30.5, p<.001) well-being compared with the group with MDD. In the final regression model, white race (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=3.11, p=.03) and better emotional well-being (AOR=1.16, p<.001) were associated with antidepressant use in the absence of MDD.

Conclusions

Older adults prescribed antidepressants in the absence of MDD did not report similar distress levels compared with their counterparts with MDD. Given the continued emphasis on screening for depression in primary care, it is important to consider the potential for overtreatment.

Objective

To describe how use of antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and other anxiolytic/sedative-hypnotics among older adults (age ≥ 65 years) has changed over time among visits to primary care providers and psychiatrists.

Methods

Data were from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (years 2003-2005 and 2010-2012), a nationally representative cross-section of outpatient physician visits. Analysis focused on visits to primary care providers (n = 14,282) and psychiatrists (n = 1,095) at which an antidepressant, benzodiazepine, or other anxiolytic/sedative-hypnotic was prescribed, which were stratified by demographic and clinical characteristic (including ICD-9-CM diagnosis) and compared across study intervals. Odds of medication use were calculated for each stratum, adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics.

Results

The visit rate by older adults to primary care providers where any of the medications were prescribed rose from 16.4% to 21.8% (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.43, P < .001) while remaining steady among psychiatrists (75.4% vs 68.5%; AOR = 0.69, P = .11). Primary care visits rose for antidepressants (9.9% to 12.3%; AOR = 1.28, P = .01) and other anxiolytic/sedative-hypnotics (3.4% to 4.7%; AOR = 1.39, P = .01), but the largest growth was among benzodiazepines (5.6% to 8.7%; AOR = 1.62, P < .001). Among patients in primary care, increases primarily occurred among men, non-Hispanic white patients, and those with pain diagnoses as well as those with no mental health or pain diagnoses.

Conclusions

From 2003 to 2012, use of the most common psychotropic medications among older adults seen in primary care increased, with concentration among patients with no mental health or pain diagnosis. As the population of older adults grows and receives mental health treatment in primary care, it is critical to examine the appropriateness of psychotropic use.

Objective

To determine the national prevalence of psychotropic use and association with neuropsychiatric symptoms among patients with dementia.

Methods

Participants diagnosed with dementia (n = 414) in the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study, a nationally representative survey of US adults >70 years old. Diagnosis was based on in-person clinical assessment and informant interview. Information collected included demographics, place of residence, 10-item Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), and prescribed medications (antipsychotic, sedative-hypnotic, antidepressant, mood stabilizer).

Results

Of 414 participants with dementia, 41.4% were prescribed a psychotropic medication, including 84.0% of nursing home residents and 28.6% of community-dwellers. Of participants, 23.5% were prescribed an antidepressant. Compared with the total NPI score of those on no medication (4.5), those on antipsychotics and those on sedative-hypnotics had much higher scores (respectively: 12.6, p < 0.001; 11.8, p = 0.03), although those antidepressants did not (6.9, p = 0.15). A larger proportion of patients on antipsychotics exhibited psychosis and agitation compared with those on no medication, while those on antidepressants exhibited more depressive symptoms. In multivariable logistic regression that included dementia severity and nursing home residence, nursing home residence was the characteristic most strongly associated with psychotropic use (odds ratio ranging from 8.96 [p < 0.001] for antipsychotics to 15.59 [p < 0.001] for sedative-hypnotics). More intense psychotic symptoms and agitation were associated with antipsychotic use; more intense anxiety and agitation were associated with sedative-hypnotic use. More intense depression and apathy were not associated with antidepressant use.

Conclusions

In this nationally representative sample, 41.4% of patients were taking psychotropic medication. While associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms, nursing home residence was most strongly tied to use. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Objective

To determine the extent to which states and localities include dementia as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana and how common this indication is.

Methods

The authors reviewed authorizing legislation and medical marijuana program websites and annual reports for the states and localities where medical marijuana is legal.

Results

Of the 24 states and localities where medical marijuana is legal, dementia is a qualifying condition in 10 (41.7%), primarily for agitation of Alzheimer disease. In the five states where information was available regarding qualifying conditions for certification, dementia was the indication for <0.5% of medical marijuana certifications.

Conclusion

Dementia is somewhat commonly listed as a potential qualifying condition for medical marijuana. Currently, few applicants for medical marijuana list dementia as the reason for seeking certification. However, given increasingly open attitudes toward recreational and medical marijuana use, providers should be aware that dementia is a potential indication for licensing, despite lack of evidence for its efficacy.

OBJECTIVE:Medical care tasks are commonly provided by spouses caring for persons living with dementia (PLWDs). These tasks reflect complex care demands that may interfere with sleep, yet their implications for caregivers' sleep outcomes are unknown. The authors evaluated the association between caregivers' medical/nursing tasks (keeping track of medications; managing tasks such as ostomy care, intravenous lines, or blood testing; giving shots/injections; and caring for skin wounds/sores) and care-related sleep disturbances. METHODS:A retrospective analysis of cross-sectional data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving was conducted. Spousal caregivers and PLWDs/proxies were interviewed by telephone at home. The U.S. sample included 104 community-dwelling spousal caregivers and PLWDs. Caregivers reported on their sociodemographic and health characteristics, caregiving stressors, negative caregiving relationship quality, and sleep disturbances. PLWDs (or proxies) reported on their health conditions and sleep problems. RESULTS:Caregivers who performed a higher number of medical/nursing tasks reported significantly more frequent care-related sleep disturbances, controlling for sociodemographic and health characteristics, caregiving stressors, negative caregiving relationship quality, and PLWDs' sleep problems and health conditions. Post hoc tests showed that wound care was independently associated with more frequent care-related sleep disturbances after accounting for the other medical/nursing tasks and covariates. CONCLUSION:Spousal caregivers of PLWDs who perform medical/nursing tasks may be at heightened risk for sleep disturbances and associated adverse health consequences. Interventions to promote the well-being of both care partners may benefit from directly addressing caregivers' needs and concerns about their provision of medical/nursing care.

Objective

Recent policy initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act and Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act have expanded coverage of mental health services. However, to what extent the public supports mandated insurance coverage of mental health care relative to other specific medical services is unclear.

Methods

This report presents results of a cross-sectional, national poll of the U.S. adult population. Respondents (N=2,124) were asked whether health plans should be required to provide coverage for mental health care and other types of medical services. Logistic regression was used to assess the association of respondent characteristics with support for coverage.

Results

Seventy-eight percent (95% confidence interval=75%-81%) of respondents supported mandated coverage of mental health care. This result was higher than support for birth control medications, equivalent to support for oral or dental care, and lower than support for all other medical services.

Conclusions

True parity for mental health care may be limited if public support lags behind that for other medical services.