ArticleJournal of Alzheimer's disease reports
Association between the coronavirus disease pandemic and antipsychotic drug prescriptions among patients with dementia.
Article in Journal of Alzheimer's disease reports. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Trends in psychotropic use among older adults with dementia in Korean long-term care hospitals across the COVID-19 pandemic: a national longitudinal study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Antipsychotics are frequently prescribed off-label to manage behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia but pose safety risks in older adults, including a 1.5-2.0-fold increased risk of mortality. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted dementia care, increasing reliance on pharmacologic treatments. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with changes in the prevalence of antipsychotic prescribing among patients with dementia. Methods: Using the Korean National Health Insurance Database, this study analyzed a random 50% sample of eligible individuals aged ≥60 years diagnosed with dementia between 2016 and 2021 (n = 876,158; 9.8 million person-observations). Outcomes included the likelihood, duration, and number of antipsychotic prescriptions issued, characterizing pharmacologic management of dementia. Interrupted time series analysis assessed associations between the pandemic and relative changes in these outcomes, adjusting for demographic factors, comorbid burden, and seasonality. Results: After the pandemic onset, there were relative slope increases per quarter of 1.5%, 3.2%, and 0.4% in the likelihood, duration, and number of prescriptions, respectively (all p < 0.001; pre-pandemic levels: 0.172 patients prescribed, 12.97 days, and 18.10 prescriptions per person-quarter). Antipsychotic prescriptions decreased by 1.6% (p < 0.001) during the first quarter after the outbreak but subsequently showed a progressive increase, reflecting prolonged care disruption after initial access barriers. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased antipsychotic prescribing among patients with dementia. To mitigate similar effects in future public health crises, governments and healthcare providers should strengthen mental health support, non-pharmacological interventions, telehealth continuity, and tailored prescribing guidelines.
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