Impact of federal antipsychotic use policy in nursing homes on new diagnoses for approved indications in dementia residents

Theresa I Shireman; Neto Coulibaly; Tingting Zhang; Andrew R Zullo; Lauren B Gerlach; Antoinette B Coe; Lori A Daiello; Derrick Lo; Julie P W Bynum

doi:10.1111/jgs.19129

Impact of federal antipsychotic use policy in nursing homes on new diagnoses for approved indications in dementia residents

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2024 Aug 23. doi: 10.1111/jgs.19129. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Theresa I Shireman^{1

2}, Neto Coulibaly², Tingting Zhang^{1

2}, Andrew R Zullo^{1

2

3

4}, Lauren B Gerlach^{5

6}, Antoinette B Coe^{5

7}, Lori A Daiello^{1

2

8}, Derrick Lo¹, Julie P W Bynum^{5

9}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
² Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
³ Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁴ Center of Innovation in Long-Term Services and Supports, Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁵ Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁷ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁸ Department of Neurology, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

PMID: 39177336
DOI: 10.1111/jgs.19129

Abstract

Background: Federal policies targeting antipsychotic use among nursing home (NH) residents may have increased reporting of diagnoses for approved uses, including schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, and Huntington's Disease (called "exclusionary diagnoses" because they exclude residents from the antipsychotic quality metric). We assessed changes in new exclusionary diagnoses among long-stay NH admissions specifically with dementia following federal policies.

Methods: Retrospective, quarterly, interrupted time-series analysis (2009-2018) of new long-stay NH residents with dementia and no exclusionary diagnoses reported before NH admission. The National Partnership and the addition of facility level antipsychotic use to the Five Star Quality Rating system were key time exposures. Outcome was quarterly facility level predicted percentage of exclusionary diagnoses within 2 years of admission stratified by NH characteristics.

Results: For 264,095 long-stay admissions, mean percentage of new exclusionary diagnoses was 2.2% before the Partnership. After the Partnership, there was an unadjusted increase in the percentage over time (slope change, 0.044, p = 0.018), but the percentage never exceeded 2.9%. The Partnership contributed to a one-time decrease in diagnoses in NHs with an intermediate percentage of Black residents (-1.29%, p = 0.004). Before the Partnership, diagnoses were increasing among not-for-profit relative to for-profit NHs (0.044; p = 0.012), but after the Partnership, the pattern reversed. For-profit NHs saw an increase (+0.034, p = 0.002); not-for-profit NHs experienced a decrease (-0.014, p = 0.039). Quality Rating modifications had no significant effect.

Conclusions: Exclusionary diagnosis reporting among long-stay NH residents with dementia, the group most at risk from antipsychotics, did not increase in response to federal policies. Evaluation of reasons for the observed increase in exclusionary diagnoses among non-dementia NH residents is warranted along with continued attention to how to incentivize the appropriate use of medications in residents with dementia that is crucial for high-quality NH care.

Keywords: antipsychotics; dementia; exclusionary diagnoses; health policy; interrupted time‐series analysis; nursing homes.

Abstract

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