The development and testing of the quality use of medications in dementia (QUM-D): a tool for quality prescribing for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD).

Background: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are virtually ubiquitous in dementia. Excessive recourse to use of psychotropics which have high risk to benefit ratio remains a global problem. We aimed to identify components of quality prescribing in BPSD to develop a tool for quality prescribing and to test this tool.

Deliberate self-harm by burning: a retrospective case controlled study.

Thirty-seven referrals to a liaison psychiatry service after deliberate self-harm by burning were compared with a control group of people referred to the same service after deliberate self-harm by other means. We found that the group who self-harmed by burning were more likely to have psychotic symptoms, be prescribed psychotropic medication at the time of the self-burns and to be psychiatric inpatients at the time of self-harm compared with controls. The implications of the findings are discussed.