Dementia observational pharmacoepidemiology study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A cross-sectional study of prescribing trends and appropriateness of prescribing for persons with dementia in primary care in Northern Ireland
IRAS ID
163358
Contact name
Carmel M. Hughes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
People with dementia have unique medication needs compared with the general older population, due to their impaired cognition and communication skills. Such challenges may influence doctors' prescribing behaviour, yet there has been limited research on prescribing in people with dementia, particularly for those residing in their own homes in primary care. Prescribing for the general older population has been the focus of much research in recent years, particularly polypharmacy (the number of prescribed medications) and potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP). PIP is associated with increases in negative outcomes such as morbidity, hospitalisation, adverse drug reactions and mortality. Several tools have been developed to identify PIP and optimise appropriate prescribing, including the STOPP (Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions) criteria which have been specifically validated for use in the UK setting. The aim of this study is to describe current prescribing trends in people with dementia in primary care and to assess the potential inappropriateness of medicines being prescribed.
This study will use routinely collected drug dispensing information, between 01 January 2013 and 31 December 2013, from the Enhanced Prescribing Database (EPD), which securely holds information on prescriptions dispensed in community pharmacies in Northern Ireland. The dataset stores information on patient, general practice, medication(s) prescribed (dose, strength and quantity) and date of issue. This study will use non-identifiable information on dispensed medications, i.e. no patient/practice names ensuring patient confidentiality.
This study will investigate the proportion of people with dementia with any of the subset of STOPP criteria OR individual STOPP criterion compared to the Northern Ireland population in 2013 (i.e. prevalence of PIP). This study will also examine the relationship between PIP and the number of medications prescribed, medication type, gender and age group.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1891
Date of REC Opinion
24 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion