Dr Ray O’Connor looks at the latest clinical studies on dementia More than 55 million people have dementia worldwide. Dementia results from a variety of diseases and injuries that affect the brain. Dr Ray O’Connor Dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death, and one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people globally.
Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia are common aspects of the disease and include features such as apathy, depression, aggression, anxiety, irritability, delirium, and psychosis. Antipsychotics are commonly prescribed for the management of these symptoms. The aim of this population-based matched cohort study 1 was to investigate the risks of multiple adverse outcomes associated with use of antipsychotics in people with dementia.
The study population was adults (≥50 years) with a diagnosis of dementia between January 1, 1998 and May 31, 2018 (n=173 910, 63.0 per cent women). Each new antipsychotic user (n=35 339, 62.
5 per cent women) was matched with up to 15 non-users using incidence density sampling. The main outcomes were stroke, venous thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, heart failure, ventricular arrhythmia, fracture, pneumonia, and acute kidney injury, stratified by periods of antipsychotic use. The results were that compared with non-use, any antipsychotic use was associated with increased risks of all outcomes, except ventricular arrhythmia.
The authors conclude that the range of adverse outco.
