title: Effects of Prescription Drug Reduction on Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Patients with Dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Due to the use of multiple drugs and prevalence of diminished cognitive function, community-dwelling elderly individuals are more likely to have drug-related issues. We examined changes in quality of life (QOL) and activities of daily living (ADL) 3 months and 6 months after reducing drug use of dementia patients who had newly begun community-dwelling care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prescription drug use was reduced in the intervention group, whereas the non-intervention group continued their regimen or began using additional drugs. QOL and ADL were assessed with the Japanese version of the EQ-5D and the Barthel Index, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects were 32 individuals aged ≥65 years who had begun community-dwelling between March and July 2014 and had received approval for long-term care insurance. On average, the intervention group (n = 19) stopped using 2.6 prescription drugs. After 6 months, the differences in the QOL and ADL scores in the intervention group were -0.03 ± 0.29 and 6.32 ± 18.6, respectively, while the differences in the QOL and ADL scores in the non-intervention group (n = 13) were -0.13 ± 0.29 and -2.69 ± 23.7, respectively. In the intervention group, ADL scores were significantly increased by 14.0 ± 11.1 6 months after reduced benzodiazepine use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  QOL was maintained with reduced drug use, while ADL score was slightly increased. In addition, the reduction of benzodiazepine use significantly increased ADL. In order to reduce polypharmacy among community-dwelling elderly patients, it is necessary to create an opportunity for pharmacists to re-examine their prescriptions.
authors.affiliation: NPO Japanese Drug Organization of Appropriate Use and Research. Sugi Pharmacy Co., Ltd. Office of Clinical Pharmacy Practice and Health Care Management, Faculty of Pharmacy, Meijo University.. sakakibara606@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakakibara
authors.forename: Ataru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Igarashi
authors.forename: Yoshimasa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takase
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kamei
authors.forename: Toshitaka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nabeshima
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019338:Polypharmacy; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care; D014041:Tokyo; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs; D001569:Benzodiazepines