Experts have found more evidence that prescribing dementia patients "chemical cosh" drugs increases their risk of early death.

Antipsychotics are widely used in care homes and hospitals, but critics argue they are often given to sedate patients to make them easier to look after rather than for any medical benefit.

Guidelines say they should only be used as a last resort and over a short period of time, but in some cases patients have been prescribed them for years.

The latest research from Harvard Medical School is the biggest ever among US nursing home residents, involving 75,445 people aged 65 and over.

It examined a range of drugs and found one in particular - haloperidol -increased the risk a patient would die. Haloperidol is widely used in the UK as well as the US. Compared with the drug risperidone, users of haloperidol had double the risk of death, while those on another drug, quetiapine, had a decreased risk, the study found.

Writing online in the British Medical Journal, the experts concluded: "The data suggest that the risk of mortality with these drugs is generally increased with higher doses and seems to be highest for haloperidol and least for quetiapine." They suggest not all antipsychotic medication carries the same risk of death but that doctors may want to consider the evidence when prescribing the drugs.

Previous studies have found that antipsychotics as a class of drugs double the risk of death and treble the risk of stroke in dementia patients.

A Government-commissioned review in 2009 found 180,000 people with dementia were prescribed antipsychotics, of which 144,000 were given them inappropriately.

The drugs have been dubbed a "chemical cosh" due their effects and are thought to contribute to the premature deaths of 1,800 patients a year.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "The risks associated with antipsychotics are well-established, and these findings underline the importance of ensuring that where these drugs are prescribed, their use must be carefully monitored."

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Dementia 'chemical cosh' warnings