Many antipsychotics are used off-label for managing psychological and behavioural symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias. Whilst their use in nursing homes has been the subject of considerable research, Wang and colleagues from Rochester University investigated their use in the context of dementia patients receiving home-based care. 

One of their principal findings was that antipsychotic use in dementia patients was double that of patients without dementia receiving home-based care. This could suggest that these dementia patients may be receiving antipsychotics inappropriately and there may be less emphasis on deprescribing when indicated, as compared to nursing homes where inappropriate use of antipsychotics has received more scrutiny.
Read the abstract here.