TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and correlates of psychotropic drug use in community-dwelling people with young-onset dementia: the NeedYD-study
AU - Koopmans, Raymond T. C. M.
AU - Reinders, Renate
AU - van Vliet, Deliane
AU - Verhey, Frans R. J.
AU - de Vugt, Marjolein E.
AU - Bor, Hans
AU - Bakker, Christian
PY - 2014/12
Y1 - 2014/12
N2 - Background: Young-onset dementia (YOD) is defined as dementia that develops before the age of 65 years. The prevalence and type of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in YOD differ from patients with late onset dementia. NPS in dementia patients are often treated with psychotropic drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate psychotropic drug use (PDU) in Dutch community-dwelling YOD patients and the association between age, gender, dementia etiology and severity, symptoms of depression, disease awareness, unmet needs, and type of NPS. Methods: Psychotropic drug use in 196 YOD patients was registered. Drugs were categorized according to the Anatomical Therapeutical Chemical classification. The association between age, gender, dementia type, dementia stage, type of NPS, depressive symptoms, disease awareness, and amount of unmet needs on total PDU was analyzed using binomial logistic regression analysis. Results: Fifty-two percent of the patients were prescribed at least one psychotropic drug; 36.2% of patients used one drug, and 12.2% used two different drugs. Antidepressants (36.2%) and antipsychotic drugs (17.3%) were the most frequently prescribed psychotropic drugs. Anti-dementia drugs were prescribed in 51.5% of the patients. Increasing age and moderate to severe depressive symptoms were positively associated with the total use of psychotropic drugs. Conclusions: Community-dwelling YOD patients have a high prevalence of PDU. More research is needed to study the association between unmet needs, NPS, and PDU, and psychosocial interventions have to be developed to limit the use of psychotropic drugs in YOD.
AB - Background: Young-onset dementia (YOD) is defined as dementia that develops before the age of 65 years. The prevalence and type of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in YOD differ from patients with late onset dementia. NPS in dementia patients are often treated with psychotropic drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate psychotropic drug use (PDU) in Dutch community-dwelling YOD patients and the association between age, gender, dementia etiology and severity, symptoms of depression, disease awareness, unmet needs, and type of NPS. Methods: Psychotropic drug use in 196 YOD patients was registered. Drugs were categorized according to the Anatomical Therapeutical Chemical classification. The association between age, gender, dementia type, dementia stage, type of NPS, depressive symptoms, disease awareness, and amount of unmet needs on total PDU was analyzed using binomial logistic regression analysis. Results: Fifty-two percent of the patients were prescribed at least one psychotropic drug; 36.2% of patients used one drug, and 12.2% used two different drugs. Antidepressants (36.2%) and antipsychotic drugs (17.3%) were the most frequently prescribed psychotropic drugs. Anti-dementia drugs were prescribed in 51.5% of the patients. Increasing age and moderate to severe depressive symptoms were positively associated with the total use of psychotropic drugs. Conclusions: Community-dwelling YOD patients have a high prevalence of PDU. More research is needed to study the association between unmet needs, NPS, and PDU, and psychosocial interventions have to be developed to limit the use of psychotropic drugs in YOD.
KW - young-onset dementia
KW - neuropsychiatric symptoms
KW - community-dwelling
KW - psychotropic drug use
KW - antipsychotics
KW - antidepressants
KW - anxiolytics
KW - hypnotics
U2 - 10.1017/S1041610213002330
DO - 10.1017/S1041610213002330
M3 - Article
C2 - 24411220
SN - 1041-6102
VL - 26
SP - 1983
EP - 1989
JO - International Psychogeriatrics
JF - International Psychogeriatrics
IS - 12
ER -