This article deals with duration of and changes in drug treatment of nursing home residents.
The duration of the drug use of 117 permanently admitted nursing home residents was studied retrospectively in five small nursing homes. All presently used drugs were registered with information on whether they were prescribed at or after admission. The drugs were recorded according to the ATC system.
The median age of the residents was 87, the most frequent diagnoses were dementia (36%) and cardiovascular diseases (26%). There was a significant correlation between the number of drugs used and number of diagnoses (r = 0.35, p