Table 2.
Answers to questionnaire items for which consensus was reached on “Indication of antipsychotics in dementia”
| Item of the questionnaire | 5-point Likert scale |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| strongly agree (1) | moderately agree (2) | neither agree nor disagree (3) | moderately disagree (4) | strongly disagree (5) |
|
| #27. In patients with BPSD is good practice to initiate treatment with anticholinesterase inhibitors/memantine before starting treatment with antipsychotics* | 47 (30.3) | 93 (60.0) | 10 (6.5) | 5 (3.2) | 0 |
| #28. In daily practice, use of antipsychotics is only recommended in severe and persistent or recurrent BPSD* | 50 (32.3) | 83 (53.5) | 7 (4.5) | 15 (9.7) | 0 |
| #29. Use of atypical antipsychotics versus conventional or typical antipsychotics provides more benefits both through oral and parenteral administration | 92 (56.8) | 55 (34.0) | 9 (5.6) | 4 (2.5) | 2 (1.2) |
| #30. Use of haloperidol should be restricted to acute treatment of agitation or psychosis with inability to use the oral route, need for intravenous route, or inability to administer parenteral atypical antipsychotics | 74 (45.7) | 71 (43.8) | 6 (3.7) | 9 (5.6) | 2 (1.2) |
| #31. Aggressiveness and severe agitation benefit from treatment with antipsychotics | 107 (66.5) | 50 (31.1) | 4 (2.5) | 0 | 0 |
| #32. Psychotic symptoms generally improve with antipsychotic treatment | 68 (42.2) | 92 (57.1) | 1 (0.6) | 0 | 0 |
| #35. Quetiapine and aripiprazole can be useful in patients with nonpsychotic depression associated with dementia* | 28 (18.1) | 91 (58.7) | 13 (8.4) | 19 (12.3) | 4 (2.6) |
| #36. Antipsychotics are useful in the treatment of anxiety in patients with dementia* | 17 (11.0) | 111 (71.6) | 11 (7.1) | 12 (7.7) | 4 (2.6) |
| #37. Antipsychotics are useful in the treatment of euphoria in patients with dementia* | 37 (23.9) | 96 (61.9) | 15 (9.7) | 6 (3.9) | 1 (0.6) |
| #41. In situations of euphoria with disinhibition, antipsychotics can be especially useful | 51 (31.5) | 91 (56.2) | 13 (8.0) | 5 (3.1) | 2 (1.2) |
| #42. Antipsychotics are useful in the treatment of irritability | 37 (22.8) | 89 (54.9) | 19 (11.7) | 16 (9.9) | 1 (0.6) |
| #44. Atypical antipsychotics with a more sedative profile (quetiapine and olanzapine) are useful for the treatment of insomnia in patients with dementia* | 67 (41.4) | 81 (50.0) | 5 (3.1) | 7 (4.3) | 2 (1.2) |
| #47. The use of long-acting atypical antipsychotics may be useful in some cases of dementia with difficulties in adherence to treatment* | 37 (23.9) | 92 (59.4) | 7 (4.5) | 14 (9.0) | 5 (3.2) |
Numbers of the items are those of the study questionnaire (online suppl. material). Percentages in parenthesis. BPSD, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. * Agreement/disagreement achieved on the second round.