Pattern of treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and pain: evidence on pharmacoutilization from a large real-world sample and from a centre for cognitive disturbances and dementia.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Data concerning the number of diagnoses and of the drugs prescribed to patients affected by dementia are still scarce. Here we test whether or not (1) prescription of symptomatic drugs against Alzheimer's disease (AD) may approximate the number of patients affected by dementia in Italy and (2) adherence to this treatment affects the pattern of prescription of drugs (i.e. antipsychotics and antidepressants) for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and the previously reported limited prescription of analgesics.

Methods

This retrospective observational study concerns 84,235 subjects older than 60 years and registered in the provincial prescription database of the health district of Cosenza accounting for a population of 298,000 inhabitants. The pres

SUBMITTER: Scuteri D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7803691 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature