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TARDIVE DYSKINESIA IS COMMON AFTER NEUROLEPTIC THERAPY IN THE ELDERLY.

Increasing age is considered a risk factor for the development of tardive dyskinesia with neuroleptic drugs, but these agents are nevertheless frequently used in elderly patients with behavioral disturbances. This preliminary report of a prospective evaluation of patients during and after the initiation of neuroleptic therapy shows how common this complication can be.

Some 215 patients age 55 or older were recruited from the psychiatric and medical services of two medical centers, a geriatric institute, and three nursing homes. Tardive dyskinesia developed in 28 of 160 patients who were followed for 3 to 119 weeks. All but one case was mild. When the authors calculated the incidence of drug-induced tardive dyskinesia over time, they found a 31 percent occurrence rate at the end of 43 weeks of neuroleptic exposure. Surprisingly, no cases of tardive dyskinesia developed later than 55 weeks after the drug was initiated; the authors urge caution in interpreting this fact, given the relatively short follow-up.

These preliminary data suggest that the rate of tardive dyskinesia with neuroleptic therapy in the elderly may be up to six times higher than the rate in non-elderly psychiatric patients.

— THL

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine November 15, 1991

Citation(s):

Saltz BL et al. Prospective study of tardive dyskinesia incidence in the elderly. JAMA 1991 Nov 6 266 2402-2406.

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