The Use of Psychotropic Medication in People with Learning Disability: Towards Rational Prescribing.

Deb, Shoumitro; Fraser, William

Between 20 per cent to 50 per cent of institutionalized people with a learning disability receive psychotropic medication. A similar or a slightly lower proportion of those who live in the community also receive these drugs. There is a decreasing rate of use of these drugs with the increasing age. The rate of psychotropic drug use seems to have declined in the last decade among the community-based population. The two main reasons for the use of these drugs are psychiatric illness and behavior disorder. These drugs cause unacceptable side-effects in a proportion of patients. Recent double-blind studies lend some support to the efficacy of zuclopenthixol in the treatment of behavior disorder. Some drugs have been used on an experimental basis to treat behavioral problems with equivocal results. These include lithium carbonate, carbamazepine, sodium valproate, fluoxetine, buspirone, naloxone, naltrexone, dextroamphetamine, methylphenidate, fenfluramine propranolol, nadolol, amantadine and midazolam. Non-drug dietary regimes, such as folic acid, vitamin 86, magnesium, and specific amino-acid rich diets have also been applied in the treatment of behavioral problems. Guidelines have been proposed for a common-sense rational approach to the use of psychotropic drugs in people with a learning disability.

PSYCHIATRIC drugs; LEARNING disabilities; DRUG side effects; AMANTADINE; CARBAMAZEPINE; FOLIC acid

Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical & Experimental, 1994, Vol 9, Issue 4, p259

0885-6222

Academic Journal

10.1002/hup.470090405