news
Unequal access
New study shows more access to
antidementia medication needed.
M
ore should be done to ensure
that people with dementia
who are appropriate candidates
are offered the opportunity to trial
antidementia medication.
This is the opinion of a new study
looking into antidementia medication
usage in Australia.
The study found that antidementia
medication use often varies by factors that
are not clinically relevant, such as gender
and income, even though medications,
such as cholinesterase inhibitors (CEI) and
memantine, have been developed that can
improve symptoms and quality of life for
people with Alzheimer-type dementia and
may reduce behavioural and psychological
symptoms of dementia.
According to the study, people with mild
to moderate Alzheimer-type dementia
have been shown to benefit from these
medications, however access to the drugs
can be a problem.
A diagnosis is needed by a specialist for
subsidisation of antidementia medication
by the PBS, and further six-monthly
assessments are required to obtain refills
on the prescription. This can be especially
challenging for people in remote areas,
people with no access to transport or
those in aged care facilitates.
People from low-socioeconomic
backgrounds and those of different cultural
and linguistic backgrounds also face
barriers to accessing the drugs, due to
slower diagnosis of dementia.
The study was conducted as currently
little is known about the use of antidementia
drugs in Australia.
A study in the early 2000s found that
only 1.4 per cent of community-dwelling
Tassie tackles dementia
Trial aims to understand dementia
impact in the Apple Isle.
By Dallas Bastian
A
new project will see researchers
work to help shift the dementia
risk of an entire state.
The largest of its kind, the study has
been designed to empower people to self-
6
agedcareinsite.com.au
manage significant modifiable dementia
risk factors.
Launched by the Wicking Dementia
Research and Education Centre,
the Island Study Linking Ageing and
Neurodegenerative Disease (ISLAND)
project will recruit 10,000 community
members aged 50 and over.
Wicking Dementia Centre director
Professor James Vickers said the project
Australians with dementia were using
these drugs, but 11 per cent were on
antipsychotics. This is in contrast with the
US, where use is around 40 per cent, and
the UK, where it’s 37 per cent.
The study found that antidementia
medication use in RACFs in Australia varied
by remoteness and also gender. Women
were more likely to use the drugs at a
younger age, while men tended to use the
drugs at an older age.
Researchers also found that, much
like the previous study from the 2000s,
antipsychotic medication was more widely
prescribed in RACFs.
“Given that antidementia medications
can be helpful for treating behavioural
and psychological symptoms of dementia
(BPSD), it was also surprising that use of
these medications was so low, when use
of much more risky antipsychotics for
BPSD is highly prevalent in Australia,” the
study stated.
Altogether, researchers found that
only 10 per cent of those with dementia
in RACFs were using antidementia
medication. ■
is the first in the world to target a whole
population through a public health and
educational campaign.
“Age is the biggest risk factor for
dementia, and Tasmania has the oldest
population in the country, one which is
ageing faster than the national average,”
Vickers said.
“Tasmania also has high rates of
modifiable risk factors of dementia;
however, it has been estimated that a
third of dementia cases may be prevented
if the population can attend to these
risk factors.”
The researchers will give participants
a toolbox for monitoring dementia risk
factors and behaviours.
They will also establish a state-
wide registry to track the incidence
of dementia. The team said this will
also assist in understanding the impact
of dementia across the health system
in Tasmania.
The ISLAND project will combine
engagement in the Wicking Dementia
Centre’s Preventing Dementia MOOC
with community co-developed and led
programs.
Participants will also be invited to
take part in ancillary research studies
to help identify those at most risk
of dementia. ■