PSYCHOTROPIC-DRUG TREATMENT IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESIDENTIAL CARE FOR THE MENTALLY-RETARDED

798 mentally retarded adults (> 19 years) in different types of residential care were studied with regard to psychotropic drug treatment and associated behaviour problems. The frequency of psychotropic medication amounts to 11.2 % for residents of community-based group homes, 31,4 % for residents of large institutions and 74.6 % for long-term care patients of a Psychiatric Clinic. Neuroleptics were the most often prescribed drugs. After controlling for the degree of mental retardation, it could be shown that for persons with behaviour problems the probability of psychotropic drug treatment was 3 times as high in the group homes, and 5.7 times as high in the large institutions, as for the corresponding groups without behaviour problems.