Laxative Agents in Nursing Homes: An Example of Prescribing Cascade

Laxatives are among the most prescribed medications to nursing home (NH) patients, and we evaluated the hypothesis that laxative agents could be prescribed as a result of a prescribing cascade. The aims of the study are (1) to investigate the use of laxative drugs in a large sample of Italian NHs and (2) to assess the relationship between medications that can induce constipation and laxative use.