The use among older people of drugs that affect mood and behaviour ‘increases dramatically' when they enter care homes in Northern Ireland, a new study has found.

Scientists at Queen's University in Belfast looked at the use of psychotropic drugs among older people in both the community and care homes. Over 250,000 people aged 65 and older took part.

The study fund that overall, psychotropic drug use was higher in care homes than in the community. For example, in January 2009, just over 1% of older people in the community were dispensed an antipsychotic. These are drugs used to treat certain mental illnesses including schizophrenia and bipolar depression.

However, 20% of older people in care homes were also prescribed these drugs.

The study noted that people who entered a care home had a higher use of psychotropic medications before entry, compared to people who did not enter a care home. But use of these drugs ‘increased sharply in the month of admission and continued to rise'.

"Antipsychotic drug dispensing increased from 8% before entry to 18% after entering care and hypnotic drug dispensing from 14% to 26%," the scientists said.

They insisted that a continuation of high use before entry ‘cannot wholly explain' the higher dispensing of psychotropic drugs to people in care homes.

"Although drug dispensing is high in older people in the community, it increases dramatically on entry to care. Routine medicine reviews are necessary in older people and are especially important during transitions of care," they concluded.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.