Table 3: Number and type of dementia medications prescribed by primary care providers to patients with dementia, by year and province. Table 3: Number and type of dementia medications prescribed by primary care providers to patients with dementia, by year and province.
| Variable | Year; no. (%) of patients | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
| Alberta | |||||
| No. of medications* | |||||
| 0 | 658 (94.8) | 632 (91.1) | 616 (88.6) | 616 (88.8) | 609 (87.8) |
| 1 | 33 (4.8) | 60 (8.7) | 77 (11.1) | 75 (10.8) | 85 (12.3) |
| 2 | 3 (0.4) | 2 (0.3) | 1 (0.1) | 3 (0.4) | 0 |
| 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.1) | 0 | 0 |
| Type of medication† | |||||
| Donepezil | 21 (60.0) | 21 (65.6) | 28 (62.2) | 29 (72.5) | 57 (67.1) |
| Galantamine | 13 (37.1) | 7 (21.9) | 17 (37.8) | 12 (30.0) | 24 (28.2) |
| Memantine | 4 (11.4) | 2 (6.3) | 1 (2.2) | 1 (2.5) | 7 (8.2) |
| Rivastigmine | 4 (11.4) | 4 (12.5) | 3 (6.7) | 7 (17.5) | 9 (10.6) |
| Manitoba | |||||
| No. of medications* | |||||
| 0 | 466 (94.1) | 456 (92.1) | 446 (90.1) | 445 (89.9) | 445 (89.0) |
| 1 | 28 (5.7) | 38 (7.7) | 48 (9.7) | 49 (9.9) | 49 (9.9) |
| 2 | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.2) |
| 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.2) | 0 |
| Type of medication† | |||||
| Donepezil | 11 (91.7) | 11 (84.6) | 14 (82.4) | 17 (77.3) | 47 (94.0) |
| Galantamine | 1 (8.3) | 4 (30.8) | 2 (11.8) | 7 (31.8) | 4 (8.0) |
| Memantine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (2.0) |
| Rivastigmine | 1 (8.3) | 0 | 1 (5.9) | 1 (4.6) | 3 (6.0) |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | |||||
| No. of medications* | |||||
| 0 | 271 (92.8) | 253 (86.6) | 227 (77.7) | 207 (70.9) | 207 (70.9) |
| 1 | 20 (6.9) | 34 (11.6) | 62 (21.2) | 83 (28.4) | 83 (28.4) |
| 2 | 0 | 4 (1.4) | 3 (1.0) | 1 (0.3) | 2 (0.7) |
| 3-4 | 1 (0.3) | 1 (0.3) | 0 | 1 (0.3) | 0 |
| Type of medication† | |||||
| Donepezil | 6 (66.7) | 7 (77.8) | 16 (64.0) | 29 (65.9) | 75 (88.2) |
| Galantamine | 3 (33.3) | 2 (22.2) | 9 (36.0) | 22 (50.0) | 16 (18.8) |
| Memantine | 1 (11.1) | 1 (11.1) | 5 (20.0) | 1 (2.3) | 0 |
| Rivastigmine | 2 (22.2) | 0 | 1 (4.0) | 2 (4.6) | 1 (1.2) |
| Nova Scotia | |||||
| No. of medications* | |||||
| 0 | 491 (89.9) | 468 (85.7) | 429 (78.6) | 383 (70.2) | 397 (72.7) |
| 1 | 51 (9.3) | 73 (13.4) | 110 (20.2) | 154 (28.2) | 139 (25.5) |
| 2 | 4 (0.7) | 5 (0.9) | 7 (1.3) | 8 (1.5) | 10 (1.8) |
| 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.2) | 0 |
| Type of medication† | |||||
| Donepezil | 7 (53.9) | 2 (18.2) | 14 (53.9) | 38 (56.7) | 90 (60.4) |
| Galantamine | 4 (30.8) | 9 (81.8) | 16 (61.5) | 29 (43.3) | 62 (41.6) |
| Memantine | 1 (7.7) | 0 | 1 (3.9) | 3 (4.5) | 8 (5.4) |
| Rivastigmine | 1 (7.7) | 0 | 2 (7.7) | 7 (10.5) | 17 (11.4) |
| Ontario | |||||
| No. of medications* | |||||
| 0 | 1934 (92.8) | 1812 (86.9) | 1678 (80.5) | 1589 (76.2) | 1557 (74.7) |
| 1 | 135 (6.5) | 248 (11.9) | 357 (17.1) | 432 (20.7) | 459 (22.0) |
| 2 | 14 (0.7) | 23 (1.1) | 49 (2.4) | 62 (3.0) | 66 (3.2) |
| 3-4 | 2 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | 3 (0.1) |
| Type of medication† | |||||
| Donepezil | 25 (67.6) | 30 (63.8) | 68 (58.6) | 138 (60.3) | 343 (62.9) |
| Galantamine | 8 (21.6) | 18 (38.3) | 49 (42.2) | 81 (35.4) | 191 (35.1) |
| Memantine | 4 (10.8) | 5 (10.6) | 15 (12.9) | 45 (19.7) | 95 (17.4) |
| Rivastigmine | 3 (8.1) | 7 (14.9) | 12 (10.3) | 27 (11.8) | 59 (10.8) |
*Dementia medications are donepezil, galantamine, memantine and rivastigmine.
†Totals may exceed 100% because some patients were prescribed more than 1 medication.