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Concomitant use of anti‐dementia drugs with psychotropic drugs in Norway—a population‐based study
Author(s) -
Langballe Ellen Melbye,
Engdahl Bo,
Selbæk Geir,
Nordeng Hedvig
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.023
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1099-1557
pISSN - 1053-8569
DOI - 10.1002/pds.2211
Subject(s) - medicine , dementia , concomitant , pharmacoepidemiology , psychotropic drug , polypharmacy , drug , psychiatry , medical prescription , pharmacology , disease
Purpose Concomitant use of anti‐dementia drugs with psychotropic drugs is potentially problematic in patients with dementia. The aim of this study was to investigate how frequently patients in Norway use anti‐dementia drugs concomitantly with psychotropic drugs. Methods Analyses are based on data from the Norwegian Prescription Database. All patients who had an anti‐dementia drug (ATC‐code N06D) dispensed from a Norwegian pharmacy between January 2004 and July 2009 were included. Results A total of 33 816 individuals received anti‐dementia drugs at some time during this period. The total concomitant use of anti‐dementia drugs with psychotropic drugs was 57.4% in men and 65.8% in women. Compared with men, a significantly higher percentage of women used antidepressants (35.8% versus 27.2%), mild hypnotics (28.8% versus 23.6%), benzodiazepines (25.4% versus 20.8%) and opioids (22.8% versus 17.4%) concomitantly with anti‐dementia drugs. Concomitant use of antipsychotics with anti‐dementia drugs was about 16% for both male and female patients. Of the total sample, 11.9% of the women and 11.7% of the men used acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) anti‐dementia drugs concomitantly with an interacting psychotropic drug. Conclusion The concomitant use of psychotropic drugs with anti‐dementia drugs was extensive, especially among women. Co‐medication with potentially interacting drugs occurred at a rate of one in 10. The concomitant use of anti‐dementia drugs with psychotropic drugs identified in this study may inform the ongoing clinical debate about drug use in this patient group. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.