Olga Koblova

University of Washington,
USA

Abstract Title:

Psychotropic medication use and discharge outcomes in older adult psychiatric inpatients: A SlicerDicer-based retrospective study.

Biography:

Olga Koblova is an acting assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and is a fellowship-trained geriatric psychiatrist. She currently works at the Center for Behavioral Health and Learning at the University of Washington, providing inpatient psychiatric care to individuals living with serious mental illness, including older adults.

Research Interests:

Key words: Geriatric inpatient psychiatry, dementia, primary psychiatric disorders in older adults, inpatient psychotropics use, discharge outcomes. Background: Psychotropic prescribing in older adults remains complex, particularly when comparing patients with dementia to those with primary psychiatric disorders. Understanding how medication patterns differ between these groups, and whether these differences translate into distinct discharge outcomes, may help guide inpatient management. Methods: A retrospective analysis of inpatient psychiatric admissions between January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026 was conducted using Epic SlicerDicer. Patients aged 65 and older were grouped by primary coded diagnosis into dementia and primary psychiatric disorder cohorts. Medication exposure was examined across antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, and other psychotherapeutic agents. Discharge disposition was analyzed using grouped outcomes. Percentages were calculated relative to each diagnostic cohort. Results: Antipsychotic use was common in both groups and slightly higher among patients with dementia (94.6% vs 87.7%). Benzodiazepine use was more frequent in the primary psychiatric cohort (43.8% vs 32.4%). Use of other psychotherapeutic or neurological agents was higher in the dementia group (27% vs 16.4%), suggesting broader medication exposure. Despite these differences in prescribing patterns, discharge outcomes were similar between groups, with favorable disposition observed in 91.9% of patients with dementia and 93.2% of those with primary psychiatric disorders. Conclusions: Older adults with dementia and those with primary psychiatric disorders demonstrate distinct psychotropic prescribing patterns, with higher antipsychotic and overall medication use in dementia and greater benzodiazepine exposure in primary psychiatric illness. However, these differences were not associated with meaningful variation in discharge disposition. These findings highlight the complexity of medication use in late-life inpatient psychiatry and suggest that factors beyond diagnosis alone may play a larger role in determining short-term inpatient outcomes.