Understanding Pandemic Increases in Long-Stay Psychotropic Prescribing for Dementia Symptoms: A Survey of Nursing Home Clinicians

Abstract

Objective: To explore the perceptions of nursing home (NH) clinicians regarding factors underpinning known increases in psychotropic prescribing over the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods : Three iterative online surveys were fielded to Virginia NH prescribing clinicians (11/2021–6/2022) to assess their perspectives regarding factors driving pandemic increases in NH psychotropic use. Existing literature and emerging survey data informed survey content. Sampling was for convenience and achieved through crowdsourcing, leveraging collaborations with Virginia NH clinician professional organizations. Results: A total of 89 surveys were collected. Clinicians noted simultaneous surging of dementia symptoms with decreased availability of non-pharmacologic measures to remedy them, leading to increased prescribing of all psychotropics. Staff shortages and turnover, isolation from family and community, and personal protective equipment protocols were identified as key pandemic factors contributing to this mismatch. Conclusions: Virginia NH clinicians explicitly linked increased NH psychotropic prescribing to known pandemic phenomena, associations previously hypothesized, but not, to our knowledge, directly confirmed.