Mortality Increased With Benzodiazepines, Antipsychotic Use in ADRD Patients

TUESDAY, Oct. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For nursing home residents with Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) receiving hospice care, initiation of benzodiazepine or antipsychotic use is associated with elevated 180-day mortality, according to a study published online Oct. 14 in JAMA Network Open.

Lauren B. Gerlach, D.O., from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted a retrospective case-control study to examine the association between incident benzodiazepine or antipsychotic use and 180-day mortality among nursing home residents with ADRD enrolled in hospice. Among 139,103 participants, there were 26,872 matched pairs of users and nonusers in the benzodiazepine cohort and 10,240 in the antipsychotic cohort.

The researchers found that benzodiazepine use initiation was associated with elevated 180-day mortality compared with nonuse as was antipsychotic use initiation (hazard ratios, 1.41 and 1.16, respectively). Across propensity score-weighted models and with greater cumulative exposure, these findings were consistent.

“Our findings highlight an opportunity for hospice teams to regularly reassess medication use, especially early in care, when maintaining communication and alertness may be prioritized by patients and families,” Gerlach said in a statement.

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