Implications for Practice and Research
Quality, appropriateness and off-label prescribing of drugs for dementia
treatment need to be investigated in light of the rising trends in the
data. With a greater emphasis on diagnosis and treatment in primary
care, evaluations of prescriber behaviours, expertise and skills are
important to ensure that prescribing is evidence based. The deprivation
level differences in rates of prescribing need to be investigated
further. In addition, wide variations in the rate of prescribing within
the most deprived areas warrant further investigation. The continued
rising trend observed for prescribing of antipsychotic drugs requires
further research to identify the contribution of dementia to the
observed trend.