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Feb. 26 - Study Examines Antibiotic Use Among Nursing Home Patients with Advanced Dementia

Antibiotics appear to be frequently prescribed to individuals with advanced dementia in nursing homes, especially in the two weeks before death, according to a report in the February 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

More than 5 million Americans have dementia, according to background information in the article. About 70% of them will live in nursing homes at the end of their lives. Recurrent infections and fever are common among these patients, who may receive antibiotics to treat these conditions.

Erika D’Agata, MD, MPH, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues studied 214 residents (average age 85.2) with advanced dementia living in 21 area nursing homes. The participants underwent an initial assessment between 2003 and 2006 and then were examined every three months for a maximum of 18 months. At each evaluation, the number of courses of antibiotic therapy prescribed since the prior visit was obtained from facility records.

During an average of 322 days of follow-up, 142 (66.4%) participants received at least one course of antibiotics and the overall average was four courses. Of the 99 (46.3%) residents who died, 42 (42.4%) received antibiotics during the two weeks before their death. “The proportion of residents taking antimicrobials was seven times greater in the last two weeks of life compared with six to eight weeks before death,” the authors write. Thirty of the 72 courses (41.7%) in the last two weeks of life were administered intravenously rather than by mouth, a method that may be uncomfortable for patients with advanced dementia.

Source: Journal of American Medicine

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