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Sex Differences in Antipsychotic and Benzodiazepine Prescribing Patterns: A Cohort Study of Newly Admitted Nursing Home Residents with Dementia in Ontario, Canada

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Abstract

Background

In nursing homes, residents with dementia frequently receive potentially inappropriate medications that are associated with an increased risk of adverse events. Despite known sex differences in clinical presentation and sociodemographic characteristics among persons with dementia, few studies have examined sex differences in patterns and predictors of potentially inappropriate medication use.

Objectives

The objectives of this study were to examine sex differences in the patterns of antipsychotic and benzodiazepine use in the 180 days following admission to a nursing home, estimate clinical and sociodemographic predictors of antipsychotic and benzodiazepine use in male and female residents, and explore the effects of modification by sex on the predictors of using these drug therapies.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 35,169 adults aged 66 years and older with dementia who were newly admitted to nursing homes in Ontario, Canada between 2011 and 2014. Health administrative databases were linked to detailed clinical assessment data collected using the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI-MDS 2.0). Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for clinical and sociodemographic covariates to estimate the rate of antipsychotic and benzodiazepine initiation and discontinuation in the 180 days following nursing home admission in the total sample and stratified by sex. Sex-covariate interaction terms were used to assess whether sex modified the association between covariates and the rate of drug therapy initiation or discontinuation following nursing home entry.

Results

Across 638 nursing homes, our analytical sample included 22,847 females and 12,322 males. At admission, male residents were more likely to be prevalent antipsychotic users than female residents (33.8% vs 28.3%; p < 0.001), and female residents were more likely to be prevalent benzodiazepine users than male residents (17.2% vs 15.3%, p < 0.001). In adjusted models, female residents were less likely to initiate an antipsychotic after admission (hazard ratio [HR] 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73–0.86); however, no sex difference was observed in the rate of benzodiazepine initiation (HR 1.04, 95% CI 0.96–1.12). Female residents were less likely than males to discontinue antipsychotics (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81–0.98) and benzodiazepines (HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.75–0.89). Sex modified the association between some covariates and the rate of changes in drug use (e.g., widowed males exhibited an increased rate of antipsychotic discontinuation (p-interaction = 0.03) compared with married males), but these associations were not statistically significant among females. Sex did not modify the effect of frailty on the rates of initiation and discontinuation.

Conclusions

Males and females with dementia differed in their exposure to antipsychotics and benzodiazepines at nursing home admission and their patterns of use following admission. A greater understanding of factors driving sex differences in potentially inappropriate medication use may help tailor interventions to reduce exposure in this vulnerable population.

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Acknowledgements

We thank IMS Brogan Inc. for use of their Drug Information Database.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICES, Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Laura C. Maclagan, Colleen J. Maxwell, Michael A. Campitelli, Christina Diong, Paula Rochon & Susan E. Bronskill

  2. School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Colleen J. Maxwell

  3. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Daniel A. Harris, Paula Rochon & Susan E. Bronskill

  4. University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, Worcester, MA, USA

    Kate L. Lapane

  5. Divison of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    David B. Hogan

  6. Women’s College Research Institute, Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Paula Rochon & Susan E. Bronskill

  7. Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Nathan Herrmann & Susan E. Bronskill

Authors
  1. Laura C. Maclagan
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Correspondence to Susan E. Bronskill.

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Funding

This research was funded in part by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) through operating grants (Exploring frailty and its role in the assessment of high risk medications and risk of poor health outcomes in vulnerable populations—MOP-326559). This research was conducted with support from the Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI) through the Ontario Brain Institute, an independent non-profit corporation, funded partially by the Ontario government. This study was supported by ICES, which is funded by an annual grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). The opinions, results and conclusions reported are those of the authors and are independent from the funding sources. No endorsement by ICES or the Ontario MOHLTC is intended or should be inferred. Parts of this material are based on data and information compiled and provided by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). However, the analyses, conclusions, opinions and statements expressed herein are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of CIHI.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Ethics approval

The use of data in this project was authorized under section 45 of Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, which does not require review by a Research Ethics Board.

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Not applicable.

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Not applicable.

Availability of data and material

The dataset from this study is held securely in coded form at ICES. While data-sharing agreements prohibit ICES from making the dataset publicly available, access may be granted to those who meet pre-specified criteria for confidential access, available at http://www.ices.on.ca/DAS.

Code availability

The full dataset creation plan and underlying analytic code are available from the authors upon request, understanding that the computer programs may rely upon coding templates or macros that are unique to ICES and are therefore either inaccessible or may require modification.

Authors’ contributions

LM, DH, MC, CM, and SB conceived and designed the investigation. LM and CD performed the statistical analysis. LM, DH, and SB wrote the paper. All authors interpreted the data and contributed important intellectual content during manuscript drafting.

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Maclagan, L.C., Maxwell, C.J., Harris, D.A. et al. Sex Differences in Antipsychotic and Benzodiazepine Prescribing Patterns: A Cohort Study of Newly Admitted Nursing Home Residents with Dementia in Ontario, Canada. Drugs Aging 37, 817–827 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40266-020-00799-2

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