Introduction

This guide has been developed to assist healthcare providers in managing psychotic symptoms and disorders in older adults. It is based on two publications of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), The Geriatrics Review Syllabus, 11^th edition (2022)and 2023 edition of Geriatrics At Your Fingertips®.

This guide was reviewed by a panel of AGS members representing geriatric medicine, geropsychiatry, and geriatric pharmacy. The guide was then reviewed and approved by the AGS Executive Committee in April 2012. It was reviewed and updated in 2023 by Melinda S. Lantz, MD.

We encourage readers to consult the publications listed in the References Section  at the end of this guide for a more in-depth discussion of the information contained here, including evidence concerning the increased incidence of mortality in the use of antipsychotic medications in the treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia.