Prescription of Psychotropic Medication to People with Intellectual Disabilities in Primary Health-care Settings

The prescription of psychotropic drugs to people with intellectual disabilities was examined in 357 people with intellectual disabilities served by 57 GPs. The results of the survey indicated that (1) 21% of adults with intellectual disabilities were receiving neuroleptic medication, 10% were receiving anxiolytics/hypnotics and 10% anti-depressants; (2) the likelihood of an adult being prescribed neuroleptic medication was associated with a number of factors including whether they had challenging behaviour, whether they had a recorded mental health problem; whether they had been resettled from long-stay hospital and whether they were under review by a consultant psychiatrist; (3) the likelihood of an adult being prescribed anti-depressant medication was associated whether they were under review by a consultant psychiatrist and whether they had a recorded mental health problem; (4) the likelihood of an adult being prescribed anxiolytic/hypnotic medication was associated with a different set of factors including whether they had significant support needs, whether they had epilepsy and whether they were under review by a consultant psychiatrist; (5) nearly one-half of people with intellectual disabilities who are receiving neuroleptic medication and just over one-third of people with intellectual disabilities who are receiving anti-depressant medication are not under the review of a consultant psychiatrist; (6) the factors predicting prescribing practices of the GPs in such cases were broadly consistent with the factors predicting overall prescribing practices.