March 10, 2023 – Black people diagnosed with dementia are significantly less likely than white people to be prescribed medication for the disease, based on a brand new study.
For five drugs commonly used to treat dementia, prescription rates were as much as 19 percentage points lower amongst blacks than amongst whites.
“Previous research has shown that due to racial differences, people with dementia do not always have equal access to medications that could be useful in nursing homes and hospitals,” said Dr. Alice Hawkins, a neurologist at Mount Sinai in New York, in a opinion“However, there is limited data on the use of dementia medications that people take at home. Our study found disparities in this area as well. We hope our findings will lead to a better understanding of these disparities so that steps can be taken to address this health inequality.”
The Resultsrecently presented on the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, examined dementia medication prescription rates amongst 25,930 people receiving medical care at Mount Sinai, a health system in New York. All of the patients within the study had been diagnosed with dementia.
Dementia is characterised by changes in mental abilities reminiscent of memory and planning which can be severe enough to affect an individual’s every day life, so Stanford MedicineThere is not any cure for dementia, but medications can slow its progression, improve mental function, or relieve mood and anxiety problems that always accompany dementia.
In the study, researchers found that prescription rates for five forms of dementia medications were lower amongst blacks than amongst whites:
- For cholinesterase inhibitors, which improve memory and cognitive functions, the speed was 10 percentage points lower;
- For NMDA antagonists, which improve cognitive function, the speed was 7 percentage points lower;
- For SSRIs, that are antidepressants, the speed was 16 percentage points lower;
- For antipsychotics, which treat psychosis and lack of reality, the speed was 4 percentage points lower;
- For benzodiazepines used to treat anxiety and agitation, the speed was 19 percentage points lower.
The differences remained even when the respondents’ age, gender and kind of insurance were included within the evaluation.
The researchers found that black patients were referred to a specialist more often than white patients. When blacks saw a neurologist, they were prescribed two forms of medications at similar rates to white patients. These two types were cholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA antagonists. The researchers wrote that more referrals to specialists reminiscent of neurologists could help reduce disparities in prescribing.
“This study has uncovered so many new areas of investigation and raises more questions than I think it answers,” Hawkins said BuzzFeed News“We need to address the factors that contribute to these inequalities and ensure that all elements of comprehensive dementia care are met for patients, regardless of their race or ethnic background.”