Antipsychotics overprescribed for Australians with dementia

Antipsychotic drugs are overused in Australia as a first-line response to managing behavioral and psychological symptoms experienced by people with dementia, particularly in residential aged care,” said Glenn Rees, Alzheimer’s Australia chief executive, in response to a report on ABC Lateline last week.

There are almost 280,000 Australians currently living with dementia, says the dementia charity. Without a significant medical breakthrough, that is expected to soar to almost 1 million by 2050.

The excessive use of antipsychotics for dementia patients in the UK has previously been criticized. However, interestinlgy, just last month a report from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) noted that the percentage of dementia patients in England being prescribed antipsychotic drugs fell sharply over the last six years (The Pharma Letter July 16). The first ever national primary care audit on the subject shows the percentage of dementia patients being prescribed antipsychotic drugs fell by 10 percentage points in the last six years – from 17% in 2006 to 7% in 2011.