Introduction: People with Lewy body dementia (LBD) experience pronounced psychotic symptoms but are extremely sensitive to side effects from antipsychotic treatment. In comparison, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) are a safer treatment option for managing cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms and should ideally be the first-line treatment according to review literature. This study described the pharmacological treatment of LBD-associated neuropsychiatric symptoms among older people by comparing dispensing records of antipsychotic drugs and AChEIs.
Methods: This study included people with records of antipsychotic drugs dispensed in 2019 according to the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register, which functioned as an indicator of neuropsychiatric symptoms, who had been registered with LBD in the Swedish registry for cognitive/dementia disorders according to basal registrations from 2007 to 2020. We then determined the proportions of individuals with and without dispensing records of AChEIs prescribed before their index antipsychotic prescription fill of 2019, by comparing prescribing dates. Age, sex and nursing home residency were included as independent variables in a multiple logistic regression model to analyse associations between demographic factors and first-line treatment with AChEIs.
Results: In total, 362 individuals with symptoms of LBD had filled at least one prescription for any antipsychotic drug in 2019. There were 114 people (31.5%) who had been prescribed antipsychotics as first-line treatment instead of AChEIs, and among them, 60 individuals had been diagnosed with LBD after the index antipsychotic prescribing date. First-line treatment with AChEIs was more common among males (odds ratio, OR, 1.65 [95% CI 1.03–2.62]) and nursing home residents (2.51 [1.59–3.96]).
Conclusions: Antipsychotics were utilized as first-line treatment instead of AChEIs among almost one-third of antipsychotic users with symptoms of LBD. It is important to consider emerging psychotic symptoms among older people as possible manifestations of LBD to ensure early and appropriate pharmacological treatment.