Characteristics and the trajectory of psychotropic medication use in general and antipsychotics in particular among adults with an intellectual disability who exhibit aggressive behaviour

ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first ever comprehensive follow‐up study of use of psychotropic medications in general but antipsychotics in particular over a 6‐month period in adults with ID and aggressive behaviour, in a clinic‐based community setting which also compared the trajectory of severity of aggressive behaviour with that of antipsychotic medication dose. Our study shows that not only the use of psychotropic medication is common among adults with ID who attend psychiatric clinics for aggressive behaviour, the use of polypharmacy of psychotropic medications in general and high dose of antipsychotics in particular are equally prevalent. However, in some cases two antipsychotics may have been prescribed simultaneously as the psychiatrist is in the process of switching from one to another.

Source: Journal of Intellectual Disability Research - January 23, 2014 Category: Disability Authors: S. Deb, G. Unwin, T. Deb Tags: Original Article Source Type: research