Medication Management and Care of Demented Patients With Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia in Taiwan: A Retrospective Pilot Study

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other countries issue warnings on the off-label use of antipsychotics in demented patients with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) (FDA warning, 2003; 2005; 2008). There is a significant increase in mortality rate by 1.6 fold due to cardiovascular events and aspiration pneumonia in the demented patients received antipsychotics comparing to placebo group. However, the prescription rates of antipsychotics in demented patients are still increased by 20% after several alerts in Canada (Valiyeva et al., 2008).