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.