Psychotropic Drug Use in the Elderly

Abstract

ELDERLY persons (by definition, those 65 years of age and older) now make up about 11 per cent of the U.S. population, but about 30 per cent of all prescriptions are written for this group, primarily by internists and family physicians.1 , 2 Elderly patients have a higher incidence of psychiatric disorders than younger persons and usually go first to their internist or family physician with their symptoms rather than to a psychiatrist. A disproportionately large percentage of psychotropic medications are prescribed for the elderly,3 4 5 and many older people believe that their daily performance depends on the use of such drugs.6 In . . .