Poorer dementia patients in England less likely to be prescribed drugs

Dementia patients from more affluent areas in England are 27% more likely to be prescribed anti-dementia drugs than patients from poorer areas, finds a new UCL study of 77,045 dementia patients across the UK. This inequality was not seen in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales. The new research, published in Age and Ageing , also found that compared to English practices, anti-dementia drugs were prescribed more often in Northern Ireland and Scotland but less often in Wales. The study, funded by The Dunhill Medical Trust, used anonymised medical records from between 2002 and 2013 to identify patients with dementia diagnoses and prescriptions. Overall, 37% of the patients studied received at least one anti-dementia drug prescription throughout the study period. In all countries, prescription rates fell during 2006-2009 which likely reflects the impact of changing guidelines. In 2006, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) changed their guidelines on certain anti-dementia drugs, deciding on cost-benefit grounds that they should only be prescribed for 'moderate' and not 'mild' dementia.