1- Nursing home residents are being prescribed more gabapentin/pregabalin (gabapentinoids).
Why?
The authors conducted two surveys of a small sample (N=78) of nursing home clinicians to find out?
#geronsky #medsky @agsjournal.bsky.social
https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgs.19381
Why?
The authors conducted two surveys of a small sample (N=78) of nursing home clinicians to find out?
#geronsky #medsky @agsjournal.bsky.social
https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgs.19381
Comments
I should note that there is virtually no evidence to support the use of gabapentin/pregabalin for BPSD.
a. Clinicians displayed divergent opinions about efficacy/safety of gabapentinoids
b. Opioid & psychotropic reduction policies encourage gabapentinoid use (i.e., unintended consequences of well-intentioned ideas)
c. Deprescribing is hard
...
d. Lack of payor support for non-pharmacologic treatment options contributes to psychotropic and pain prescribing, exacerbating by NH staffing problems
e. Most NH gabapentinoids are started outside of NHs by non-NH clinicians (according to the NH clinicians)
Ideally, we could get more financial support to train NH staff in behavioral, environmental, and psychological approaches to managing BPSD and pain.
Also, policies regulating the use of medications in NH need to be scrutinized for unintended consequences.