High Sedative Load

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Home Care
Country
Australia
Publishing Organisation
Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA): Home Care Outcome Monitoring System
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Safety
Domain
Medication-Related

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
Yes
Risk Adjustments

Age, sex, number of health conditions.

Stratifications

Dementia status.

Data Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
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
Annually
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
365
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
Annually
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

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

Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
12 March 2025