Dementia drug consumption in the Basque Country between 2006 and 2011.

Objective: We evaluated the consumption of specific medications for treating cognitive symptoms associated with AD and other types of dementia in individuals over 60 years of age between 2006 and 2011 in the Basque Country.
Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted. The pharmacy division of the Basque Government Department of Health provided the prescribing data for the following drugs: donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine, and memantine. The number of defined daily doses (DDDs) and the number of DDDs per 1000 inhabitants/day (DHD) were calculated.
Results: Consumption increased by 49.72% between 2006 and 2011. There were marked differences between drugs (13.02% donepezil; 93.18% rivastigmine; 37.79% galantamine; 70.40% memantine) and Basque provinces (16.34% in Áraba; 50.49% in Bizkaia; 57.37% in Gipuzkoa). Likewise, expenditure increased from €11.5 million in 2006 to € 18.1 million in 2011.
Conclusions: This study shows increased consumption of these drugs, although there are also marked differences by province which may be due to differences in prescribing habits. Spending for these drugs rose parallel to this increase in consumption; drug prices remained stable throughout the study period.
(Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)