A study of 2,000 pharmacies in 1986 showed that 60.5% of prescriptions for nursing home residents over 65 years of age were for major tranquilizers and 17.
Yet another paper, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry in 1964, found that major tranquilizers can "produce an acute psychotic reaction in an individual not previously psychotic." A 1975 paper described a negative effect called akathisia, a drug-induced inability to sit still comfortably.
In contrast to the model that excludes ECT, this model no longer has
major tranquilizers given at discharge as significant; instead, the model now includes the variable major antidepressants at admission, which adds 3.7 days to the LOS.
For demented patients, low-dose
major tranquilizers can be helpful if a careful evaluation for other underlying problems, including depression, is first undertaken.