Longitudinal comparative analysis of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases: insights from French and British health records

Abstract

Background: Depression and anxiety coexist with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), yet their progression trajectories vary, necessitating a thorough examination of prescription patterns for antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs pre- and post-diagnosis.

Objectives: To systematically compare the prescriptions of antidepressant and anti-anxiety drugs across AD and PD over 10 years before and after initial diagnosis in the UK and France.

Methods: Data on 19,954 patients with AD, 25,267 with PD from the UK, 17,463 with AD, 10,333 with PD from France were extracted from The Health Improvement Network database. For both countries, we compared the odds of prescribed antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs for each diagnosis group, over 10 years before and after diagnosis, using logistic regressions adjusting for age, sex, and drug prescriptions for chronic diseases.

Results: Antidepressant prescriptions showed a significant rise from 25 % 5-10 years before the initial AD diagnosis to 50 % within the first 5 years post-diagnosis. AD Patients were more likely to be prescribed antidepressants than PD patients [Odds ratios ranging from 1.02 to 1.13 in the UK and 1.09-1.36 in France] and conversely PD patients were more likely to be prescribed anti-anxiety drugs [0.83-0.84 in the UK and 0.85-0.90 in France] several years before their diagnosis. AD patients sustained elevated antidepressant prescriptions up to 5 years after diagnosis.

Conclusion: These findings offer insights into disease-specific psychological impacts and underscore the necessity for further investigation into prescription patterns and their implications on patient outcomes.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Anxiety; Depression; Parkinson's disease; Prescription.