Elderly people in Sweden are five times more likely to be taking antipsychotics if they have a diagnosis of dementia, according to research published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. And among those people with dementia, the lower their education the higher the likelihood they’re taking antipsychotics.
The Stockholm University researchers obtained information on antipsychotics, dementia status, and educational level for 641,566 people aged 75–89 in Sweden in 2005.
According to an editorial accompanying the study, “Wastesson et al. report that the prevalence of antipsychotic use was 15.6% in people with dementia with >12 years education, 20.4% in people with 9–12 years education and 22.2% in people with
The editorial described the results as “intriguing,” especially in light of Sweden’s public health care system. They wondered if the link might be associated with other aspects of socio-economic disparity, or if “more highly educated people may be more likely to ask questions about their medications.”
“This finding highlights the importance of investigating healthcare inequalities also among cognitively impaired older adults,” concluded the study researchers.
(Abstract) Educational disparities in antipsychotic drug use among older people with and without dementia in Sweden (Wastesson, J. W. et al. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. Article first published online December 22, 2014. DOI: 10.1111/acps.12378)
(Full text) Why are more highly educated people with dementia less likely to be prescribed antipsychotics? (Bell J. S. et al. Why are more highly educated people with dementia less likely to be prescribed antipsychotics? Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. Article first published online December 22, 2014. DOI: 10.1111/acps.12377)
Brave New World mate – drug the lower classes into submission andmake a profit from it.
Sick in the head – and that’s the whole society – not the elderly poor
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obviously, the reason is classism, and the fact the elderly are drugged so much more than everyone else even when from higher classes is ageism, though I suspect classism also enters in here, for as people no longer considered to be “productive”, they are treated as if expendable.
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Disenfranchised people who can’t defend themselves and don’t have anyone to stand up for them get screwed – the oldest thing in human civilization:(. I guess they are lucky they don’t get ECT yet… It’s sick.
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Btw, 20% is disastrous. These drugs cause early death not mentioning all other debilitating effects. It’s appalling.
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