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Impact of deprivation, dementia prevalence and regional demography on prescribing of anti-dementia drugs in England 2009-2019: a time trend analysis
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  • Neha Vohra,
  • Muhammad Hadi,
  • Saval Khanal,
  • Vibhu Paudyal
Neha Vohra
University of Birmingham

Corresponding Author:neha.k.vohra@gmail.com

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Muhammad Hadi
University of Birmingham College of Medical and Dental Sciences
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Saval Khanal
University of Warwick
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Vibhu Paudyal
University of Birmingham
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Abstract

Aim This study aimed to examine trends in prescribing of anti-dementia drugs in primary care in England between 2009-2019 and to investigate the impact of deprivation, regional demography and disease prevalence on prescribing practices. Methods Analysis of publicly available government data from various sources pertaining to primary care prescribing and demographics was conducted. All primary care prescription data pertaining to anti-dementia drugs and antipsychotic drugs in England between 2009-2019 were extracted and adjusted for inflation and populations changes. Data across English Clinical Commissioning regions and groups were compared to explore the association between prescribing trend, deprivation, regional demography and dementia prevalence. Anti-psychotic drugs prescribing trends were used as reference comparators. Results The number of prescription items for anti-dementia drugs in England increased by approximately three-folds from 24 items/1,000 populations in 2009 to 70.9 items/1,000 populations in 2019; prescribing of antipsychotics increased by 37.6%. In 2019, the least deprived areas had approximately twice the rate of prescribing of anti-dementia drugs compared to the most deprived areas [median (IQR) values of 46.7 (36.6-64.8) vs 91.23 (76.2-95.1) items/1,000 populations respectively]. A weak positive correlation (Pearson’s correlation-coefficient 0.371, p=0.413) was observed between dementia prevalence and prescribing rates. Conclusions The three-fold rise in the number of prescription items for anti-dementia drugs in the study period reflects the policy emphasis on early diagnosis and treatment of dementia. Higher rates of prescribing in the least deprived areas may be reflective of higher life expectancy, better diagnoses and access to treatments. Such differences need to be investigated further.
02 Jul 2020Submitted to British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
03 Jul 2020Submission Checks Completed
03 Jul 2020Assigned to Editor
09 Jul 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
22 Dec 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
23 Dec 2020Editorial Decision: Revise Major
17 Jan 20211st Revision Received
20 Jan 2021Submission Checks Completed
20 Jan 2021Assigned to Editor
20 Jan 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
12 Feb 2021Editorial Decision: Accept