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An Updated Analysis of Psychotropic Medicine Utilisation in Older People in New Zealand from 2005 to 2019

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Abstract

Background

Psychotropic medicine utilisation in older adults continues to be of interest because of overuse and concerns surrounding its safety and efficacy.

Objective

This study aimed to characterise the utilisation of psychotropic medicines in older people in New Zealand.

Methods

We conducted a repeated cross-sectional analysis of national dispensing data from 1 January, 2005 to 31 December, 2019. We defined utilisation using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification defined daily dose system. Utilisation was measured in terms of the defined daily dose (DDD) per 1000 older people per day (TOPD).

Results

Overall, the utilisation of psychotropic medicines increased marginally by 0.42% between 2005 and 2019. The utilisation increased for antidepressants (72.42 to 75.21 DDD/TOPD) and antipsychotics (6.06–19.04 DDD/TOPD). In contrast, the utilisation of hypnotics and sedatives (53.74–38.90 DDD/TOPD) and anxiolytics decreased (10.20–9.87 DDD/TOPD). The utilisation of atypical antipsychotics increased (4.06–18.72 DDD/TOPD), with the highest percentage change in DDD/TOPD contributed by olanzapine (520.6 %). In comparison, utilisation of typical antipsychotics was relatively stable (2.00–2.06 DDD/TOPD). The utilisation of venlafaxine increased remarkably by 5.7 times between 2005 and 2019. The utilisation of zopiclone was far greater than that of other hypnotics in 2019.

Conclusions

There was only a marginal increase in psychotropic medicines utilisation from 2005 to 2019 in older adults in New Zealand. There was a five-fold increase in the utilisation of antipsychotic medicines. Continued monitoring of psychotropic medicine utilisation will be of interest to understand the utilisation of antidepressants and antipsychotic medicines during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic year.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Analytical Services, Ministry of Health of New Zealand, for supplying the data extracted from the Pharms database.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Prasad S. Nishtala

  2. Centre for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Bath, Bath, UK

    Prasad S. Nishtala

  3. Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand

    Te-yuan Chyou

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  1. Prasad S. Nishtala
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Correspondence to Prasad S. Nishtala.

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Funding

No funding was provided for the publication of this article.

Conflicts of interest/Competing interests

Prasad S. Nishtala and Te-yuan Chyou have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of the University of Bath, UK (form number 7423).

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Not applicable.

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Not applicable.

Availability of data and material

The data are owned by the Analytical Services, Ministry of Health NZ, and hence we cannot share raw data for this study.

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Authors’ contributions

Study concept and design: PSN; statistical analysis: PSN, TC; interpretation of data: PSN, TC; drafting of the manuscript: PSN; critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: PSN, TC; study supervision: PSN. PSN and TC have read and approved the final submitted manuscript and agree to be accountable for the work.

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Nishtala, P.S., Chyou, Ty. An Updated Analysis of Psychotropic Medicine Utilisation in Older People in New Zealand from 2005 to 2019. Drugs Aging 39, 657–669 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-022-00965-8

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