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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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The relevance of guidelines for treating mania in old age
— editorial | | Author(s) | John Snowdon |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 15, no 9, September 2000 |
| Pages | pp 779-783 |
| Keywords | Psychoses ; Drugs ; Standards of provision. |
| Annotation | Three sets of guidelines for the treatment of patients with bipolar disorder are reviewed, to assess their adequacy in relation to treatment of older people with mania. The three are: the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Practice guideline (1994); the Expert consensus guideline series (1996); and the Clinical practice guidelines for bipolar disorder from the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA, 1999). One of the three refers to differences encountered when treating older people, but none gives adequate attention to age-related changes in pharmacokinetics, and whether it is appropriate to prescribe lithium as a first-line mood stabiliser for older people. The guidelines do not give clear guidance on initial management of acutely manic patients who refuse medication. Nor do they give consideration to secondary mania. It is recommended that evidence be gathered to develop guidelines specifically for management of mental disorders presenting in old age. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-001107207 A |
| Classmark | EL: LLD: 583 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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