Trends in antipsychotic prescribing among community-dwelling older adults with dementia, 2010-2018

Due to an FDA "black box" warning for heightened risk of death, Choosing Wisely (CW) recommends avoiding antipsychotic prescription drugs as first-line treatment for dementia-related agitation. Yet, post-CW trends among community-dwelling patients with dementia remain unknown. In this retrospective cohort study, we used nationally representative Health and Retirement Study survey data linked to Medicare fee-for-service claims (January 1, 2010-December 31, 2018) to analyze prescribing trends during the pre-publication (2010-2012), publication (2013-2015), and post-publication (2016-2018) periods of CW recommendations. We included community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years with dementia. We utilized multivariable mixed regression models to determine the percentage of patients prescribed any, potentially low-value, and potentially indicated antipsychotics. Among an estimated 2.4-2.7 million patients with dementia, any antipsychotic prescribing increased from 9.4% (95% CI, 6.4%-12.3%) during the pre-publication period (2010-2012) to 15.8% (95% CI, 12.8%-18.8%) (P < 0.001) during the publication period (2013-2015). Potentially low-value and potentially indicated prescriptions also increased. Post-publication period (2016-2018) prescribing of 16.0% (95% CI, 13.0%-19.1%) (P < 0.001) remained higher than pre-publication. Among older Americans with dementia, antipsychotic prescriptions increased after the publication of CW recommendations and held steady in the subsequent post-publication period. Stronger interventions, such as electronic clinical decision support tools and financial incentives, are needed to curb low-value antipsychotic prescribing for this vulnerable population.