High Sedative Load
Identifying Attributes
Care Settings
Country
Publishing Organisation
Type of Quality Indicator
IOM Quality Dimension
Domain
Defining Attributes
Definition
Proportion of home care recipients who experienced a high sedative load (SL).
Numerator
Number of home care recipients who experienced high sedative load (SL≥3) medication use within a 91-day period in the reporting period of 1 year. Sedative load is calculated by summing the sedative rating of each medication dispensed during the same period.
Denominator
Number of home care recipients.
Exclusions
History of schizophrenia or Huntington's disease, or receiving pharmacological cancer treatment.
Use of Risk Adjustment
Risk Adjustments
Age, sex, number of health conditions.
Stratifications
Dementia status.
Data Attributes
Type of Data Collection
Data Collection Methods
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) data. Sedative load (SL) is calculated by summing the sedative rating of each different medication dispensed within a 91-day period.
Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods
Published publicly annually at national level. Individualised home care provider specific reports with benchmarks provided privately (to providers with more than 20 recipients ) for South Australia only annually.
Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
Source and Reference Attributes
Evidence Source
Caughey GE, Lang CE, Bray SCE, et al. Quality and safety indicators for home care recipients in Australia: development and cross-sectional analyses. BMJ Open 2022;12(8):e063152
Technical Specifications
Registry of Senior Australians. Home Care Outcome Monitoring System Technical Specification – High Sedative Load. Version 1.0. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. Adelaide, Australia; May 2023, 3 pages. static1.squarespace.com/static/5b8c84fc4cde7abe6c3e7d7c/t/64816d78d6fa0657b6deef5c/1686203769077/3IndicatorHigh+Sedative+LoadV1+dated+28-04-2023WEBSITE.pdf