The purpose of this study was to compare the use of medication by elderly persons in four different settings in Sydney. Information was obtained from 143 people living in their own homes, and medication charts were studied in relation to 79 hostel residents, 134 nursing home residents and 43 patients in long‐stay psychogeriatric wards. Prescription of psychotropic medication for residents of hostels and nursing homes in 1985–1988 was at a high level when compared with overseas studies carried out during the same period. Antidepressants were prescribed more often in Sydney than in overseas institutions for older people, though a high percentage of depressed subjects were found not to be taking antidepressants. Other details of medication use are discussed.
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John Snowdon (1993) studied this question.
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