Use Of Antipsychotics Increased Adverse Outcomes For Adults With Dementia

For adults with dementia, antipsychotic use is associated with increased risks for stroke, venous thromboembolism (blood clot), myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, fracture, pneumonia, and acute kidney injury, according to a recent study. Specifically, current use (90 days after a prescription) was associated with elevated risks of:

Pneumonia (hazard ratio 2.19)

Acute kidney injury (1.72)

Venous thromboembolism (1.62)

Stroke (1.61)

Fracture (1.43)

Myocardial infarction (1.28)

Heart failure (1.27)

Hazards were higher when current use of typical antipsychotics was directly compared with atypical antipsychotics for stroke (1.23), heart failure (1.18), fracture . . .