Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are highly prevalent in dementia, but effective pharmacotherapy without important side effects is lacking.
On the other hand, available pharmacotherapy risks systemic side effects, leading to discomfort, limited use, and/or withdrawal from the market.
(3) The last factor to consider is the additive effect of multiple pharmacotherapies on side effect rates.
Furthermore, due to interventions of community pharmacists to optimise pharmacotherapy or prevent possible side effects the dispensed drug may not be the same as the drug prescribed by the GP.
Specifically, staff reported barriers to accessing health professionals for pharmacotherapy support, discomfort with the promotion of pharmacotherapy, and challenges dealing with side effects.
29 Lifestyle strategies, unlike pharmacotherapy, are not limited by side effects and tolerability (Table 2).
A drawback of pharmacotherapy is the possibility of side effects, e.g. sleep disturbance, weight loss, anxiety, and sadness [ 13].
When we consider the overall unimpressive treatment effects presented here, it should be acknowledged that psychological interventions, like pharmacotherapy, might also have negative side effects.
Extrinsic causes include unhealthy life style, smoking, consumption of fast food, lack of exercise and the side effects of pharmacotherapy [ 6].
In our sample, the proportion of patients who received education regarding pharmacotherapy (on the topic of side effects, the expected efficacy of medication, the consequences of discontinuing treatment prematurely, etc).
