Integrated Care Pathway Cuts Early Polypharmacy But Not Agitation

The StaN trial tests whether a structured, measurement-based algorithm for dementia agitation reduces symptoms and psychotropic burden compared with usual care in Canadian inpatient and long-term care settings.

integrated care pathwayagitationAlzheimer's diseasedementiapsychotropic polypharmacyantipsychoticsdeprescribinglong-term caremeasurement-based carerandomized controlled trialgeriatric psychiatry Geriatrics / Geriatric Pharmacy

Background Information

Standardizing care reduces polypharmacy in dementia agitation.

Agitation in Alzheimer's disease is common and challenging, with inconsistent adherence to treatment guidelines. The Integrated Care Pathway (ICP) reduced psychotropic polypharmacy in both inpatient and long-term-care home (LTCH) settings without impacting agitation levels. The study suggests that ICP can decrease medication burden without compromising efficacy, but findings were not significant at the 12-week endpoint. Standardizing care may reduce polypharmacy in dementia-related agitation.

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Authors: Kumar S, Burhan AM, Colman S, Chu L, Davies S, Derkach P, Elmi S, Gerretsen P, Graff-Guerrero A, Greenway K, Hussain M, Ismail Z, Kim D, Krisman L, Ma C, Moghabghab R, Mulsant BH, Pollock BG, Rej S, Rostas A, Schoer N, Streiner DL, Van Bussel L, Rajji TK, StaN Study Group

Citation: Kumar S, Burhan AM, Colman S, et al. Standardizing care for agitation in Alzheimer's disease, results from a randomized controlled trial of an integrated care pathway versus usual care - the StaN trial. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2026;22(7):e71610. doi:10.1002/alz.71610

Article Links: PubMed · Journal / DOI · Free Full Text (PMC)

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