Table 1.
Characteristics of New Users of Antipsychotic Monotherapy and Antidepressant Monotherapy Among Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Patients With Moderate-to-Severe Behavioral Symptoms
| Baseline* Characteristics | Total Sample | Antipsychotic Monotherapy Users | Antidepressant Monotherapy Users | p Value† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample Size | N | n | % | n | % | |
| 6,644 | 1,964 | 100 | 4,680 | 100 | ||
| Age | ||||||
| Mean, SD | 82.9 (8.9) | 82.7 (9.4) | 83.0 (8.7) | |||
| ≤64 | 210 | 81 | 4.1 | 129 | 2.8 | |
| 65–74 | 775 | 229 | 11.7 | 546 | 11.7 | |
| 75–84 | 2,476 | 745 | 38.4 | 1,721 | 36.8 | |
| 85+ | 3,184 | 900 | 45.8 | 2,284 | 48.8 | .008 |
| Female sex | 4,847 | 1,385 | 70.5 | 3,462 | 74.0 | .004 |
| Race | ||||||
| White | 5,330 | 1,481 | 75.5 | 3,849 | 82.2 | |
| Black | 1,031 | 388 | 19.8 | 643 | 13.7 | |
| Others‡ | 283 | 95 | 4.8 | 188 | 4.0 | <.001 |
| Region | ||||||
| Northeast | 1,460 | 413 | 21.0 | 1,047 | 22.4 | |
| North Central | 1,854 | 543 | 27.7 | 1,311 | 28.0 | |
| South | 2,657 | 793 | 40.4 | 1,864 | 39.8 | |
| West | 673 | 215 | 11.0 | 458 | 9.8 | .370 |
| Low-income subsidy | 5,702 | 1,22 | 87.7 | 3,980 | 85.0 | .005 |
| Number of comorbid conditions (Mean, SD) | 3.6 (3.4) | 3.4 (3.4) | 3.7 (3.4) | .696 | ||
| Depression | 2,152 | 449 | 22.9 | 1,703 | 36.4 | <.001 |
| Severe mental illness | 1,523 | 693 | 35.3 | 830 | 17.7 | <.001 |
| Delirium | 1,814 | 604 | 30.8 | 1,210 | 25.9 | <.001 |
| MDS Cognition Scale | ||||||
| 0–3 | 353 | 58 | 3.0 | 295 | 6.3 | |
| 4–6 | 4,726 | 1,301 | 66.2 | 3,425 | 73.2 | |
| 7–10 | 1,565 | 605 | 30.8 | 960 | 20.5 | <.001 |
| Activities of daily living dependence | ||||||
| 0–7 | 950 | 290 | 14.8 | 660 | 14.1 | |
| 8–14 | 1,301 | 403 | 20.5 | 898 | 19.2 | |
| 15–21 | 2,541 | 695 | 35.4 | 1,846 | 39.4 | |
| 22–28 | 1,852 | 576 | 29.3 | 1,276 | 27.3 | .021 |
| MDS-CHESS scale | ||||||
| 0 | 285 | 98 | 5.0 | 187 | 4.0 | |
| 1 | 4,065 | 1,222 | 62.2 | 2,843 | 60.8 | |
| 2–5 | 2,294 | 644 | 32.8 | 1,650 | 35.3 | .047 |
| Any hospitalization | 3,400 | 979 | 49.9 | 2,421 | 51.7 | .161 |
| Any skilled nursing stay | 3,207 | 1,003 | 51.1 | 2,204 | 47.1 | .003 |
| Any AXSH use | 608 | 183 | 9.3 | 425 | 9.1 | .760 |
| Monthly medication dose | ||||||
| mSDD ≤ 1 | 6,020 | 1,625 | 82.7 | 4,395 | 93.9 | |
| mSDD > 1 | 624 | 339 | 17.3 | 285 | 6.1 | <.001 |
| Days of medication use per month (mean, SD) | 18 (9) | 16 (9) | 19 (8) | <.001 | ||
Notes: AXSH = anxiolytics and sedative-hypnotics; CHESS = Changes in Health, End-stage disease and Symptoms and Signs; MDS = Minimum data set; mSDD = Modified standardized daily dose.
*Baseline = 6 months prior to the date of the first recorded antipsychotics or antidepressants.
†Differences between antipsychotic and antidepressant users.
‡Other included Hispanic, Asian, the natives of North American, and individuals with other or unknown races and ethnicities.