@article{ref1,
title="Use of psychotropic agents to treat agitation and aggression in Brazilian patients with Alzheimer's disease: a naturalistic and multicenter study",
journal="Psychiatry research",
year="2020",
author="Oliveira, Larissa de Freitas and Camargos, Einstein Francisco and Martini, Luciana Lilian Louzada and Machado, Flávio Vieira and Novaes, Maria Rita Carvalho Garbi",
volume="295",
number="",
pages="e113591-e113591",
abstract="We assessed psychotropic prescribing patterns in the clinical treatment of agitation  and aggressive behavior in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) treated at  specialist outpatient clinics in the Federal District of Brazil. This was a  naturalistic, observational, multicenter study of a convenience sample of patients  with AD (according to DSM-5) who had behavioral symptoms of aggression and/or  agitation at outpatient visits, as assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI),  and required pharmacologic intervention. Participants were recruited in 2018-2019  from 11 AD treatment centers. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected  during routine visits. The sample consisted of 369 older adults with a mean age of  82.3 (SD, 7.7) years. The medications most commonly used in patients with behavioral  disorders were antidepressants (79.1%), antipsychotics (70.2%), benzodiazepines  (10.6%), and mood stabilizers (9.5%). Quetiapine was the most frequently prescribed  antipsychotic medication (48.5%), at a mean dose of 57.4 (SD, 40.7) mg. Citalopram  was the most widely used antidepressant medication (32.0%), at a mean daily dose of  24.1 (SD, 8.1) mg. In this sample, two or more pharmacologic agents were frequently  used together to control aggression and agitation. Benzodiazepine was not frequently  used.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0165-1781",
doi="10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113591",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113591"
}