Abstract
Background: Psychotropic medicine utilisation in older adults continues to be of interest because of overuse and concerns surrounding its safety and efficacy. Objective: This study aimed to characterise the utilisation of psychotropic medicines in older people in New Zealand. Methods: We conducted a repeated cross-sectional analysis of national dispensing data from 1 January, 2005 to 31 December, 2019. We defined utilisation using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification defined daily dose system. Utilisation was measured in terms of the defined daily dose (DDD) per 1000 older people per day (TOPD). Results: Overall, the utilisation of psychotropic medicines increased marginally by 0.42% between 2005 and 2019. The utilisation increased for antidepressants (72.42 to 75.21 DDD/TOPD) and antipsychotics (6.06–19.04 DDD/TOPD). In contrast, the utilisation of hypnotics and sedatives (53.74–38.90 DDD/TOPD) and anxiolytics decreased (10.20–9.87 DDD/TOPD). The utilisation of atypical antipsychotics increased (4.06–18.72 DDD/TOPD), with the highest percentage change in DDD/TOPD contributed by olanzapine (520.6 %). In comparison, utilisation of typical antipsychotics was relatively stable (2.00–2.06 DDD/TOPD). The utilisation of venlafaxine increased remarkably by 5.7 times between 2005 and 2019. The utilisation of zopiclone was far greater than that of other hypnotics in 2019. Conclusions: There was only a marginal increase in psychotropic medicines utilisation from 2005 to 2019 in older adults in New Zealand. There was a five-fold increase in the utilisation of antipsychotic medicines. Continued monitoring of psychotropic medicine utilisation will be of interest to understand the utilisation of antidepressants and antipsychotic medicines during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic year.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 657–669 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Drugs & Aging |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 13 Jul 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 31 Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We obtained de-identified dispensing claims data for individuals aged 65 years or older for 2005–19 from the NZ Ministry of Health. The dispensing claims data were extracted from the Pharmaceutical collection by the information analyst at Data Services, Ministry of Health [, ]. The Pharmaceutical collection contains medicines funded by PHARMAC. PHARMAC is the New Zealand government agency that decides which pharmaceuticals to fund in NZ publicly and provides funded access to pharmaceuticals for all New Zealanders [].
Funding Information:
The authors thank the Analytical Services, Ministry of Health of New Zealand, for supplying the data extracted from the Pharms database.
Funding Information:
We obtained de-identified dispensing claims data for individuals aged 65 years or older for 2005–19 from the NZ Ministry of Health. The dispensing claims data were extracted from the Pharmaceutical collection by the information analyst at Data Services, Ministry of Health [, ]. The Pharmaceutical collection contains medicines funded by PHARMAC. PHARMAC is the New Zealand government agency that decides which pharmaceuticals to fund in NZ publicly and provides funded access to pharmaceuticals for all New Zealanders [].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Pharmacology (medical)