@misc{BohlkenWeberRappetal.2015, author = {Bohlken, Jens and Weber, Simon and Rapp, Michael Armin and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Continuous treatment with antidementia drugs in Germany 2003-2013}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {522}, issn = {1866-8364}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-41471}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-414718}, pages = {8}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Background: Continuous treatment is an important indicator of medication adherence in dementia. However, long-term studies in larger clinical settings are lacking, and little is known about moderating effects of patient and service characteristics. Methods: Data from 12,910 outpatients with dementia (mean age 79.2 years; SD = 7.6 years) treated between January 2003 and December 2013 in Germany were included. Continuous treatment was analysed using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests. In addition, multivariate Cox regression models were fitted with continuous treatment as dependent variable and the predictors antidementia agent, age, gender, medical comorbidities, physician specialty, and health insurance status. Results: After one year of follow-up, nearly 60\% of patients continued drug treatment. Donezepil (HR: 0.88; 95\% CI: 0.82-0.95) and memantine (HR: 0.85; 0.79-0.91) patients were less likely to be discontinued treatment as compared to rivastigmine users. Patients were less likely to be discontinued if they were treated by specialist physicians as compared to general practitioners (HR: 0.44; 0.41-0.48). Younger male patients and patients who had private health insurance had a lower discontinuation risk. Regarding comorbidity, patients were more likely to be continuously treated with the index substance if a diagnosis of heart failure or hypertension had been diagnosed at baseline. Conclusions: Our results imply that besides type of antidementia agent, involvement of a specialist in the complex process of prescribing antidementia drugs can provide meaningful benefits to patients, in terms of more disease-specific and continuous treatment.}, language = {en} } @article{BohlkenSchulzRappetal.2015, author = {Bohlken, Jens and Schulz, Mandy and Rapp, Michael Armin and Baetzing-Feigenbaum, Joerg}, title = {Pharmacotherapy of dementia in Germany: Results from a nationwide claims database}, series = {European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology}, volume = {25}, journal = {European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology}, number = {12}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0924-977X}, doi = {10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.09.014}, pages = {2333 -- 2338}, year = {2015}, abstract = {In 2011, about 1.1-1.4 million patients with dementia were living in Germany, a number expected to rise to three million by 2050. Dementia poses a major challenge to the healthcare system and neuropharmacological service provision. The aim of this study was to determine prescription rates for anti-dementia drugs as well as for neuroleptics, sedative-hypnotics and antidepressants in dementia using the complete nationwide outpatient claims data pertaining to the services of statutory health insurance. We controlled for gender, age, dementia diagnosis, physician specialty (general practitioner GP versus neuropsychiatry specialist physician NPSP), and rural and urban living area. In about one million prevalent dementia patients (N=1,014,710) in 2011, the prescription prevalence rate of anti-dementia drugs was 24.6\%; it varied with gender, age, and diagnosis (highest in Alzheimer's disease; 42\%), and was higher in patients treated by NPSPs (48\% vs. 25\% in GPs). At the same time, we found an alarmingly high rate of treatment with neuroleptics in dementia patients (35\%), with an only slightly decreased risk in patients treated exclusively by NPSPs (OR=0.86). We found marginal differences between rural and urban areas. Our results show that the majority of anti-dementia drug prescriptions appear guideline-oriented, yet prescription rates are overall comparatively low. On the other hand, neuroleptic drugs, which are associated with excess morbidity and mortality in dementia, were prescribed very frequently, suggesting excess use given current guidelines. We therefore suggest that guideline implementation measures and increasing quality control procedures are needed with respect to the pharmacotherapy of this vulnerable population. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. and ECNR All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @article{BohlkenWeberRappetal.2015, author = {Bohlken, Jens and Weber, Simon and Rapp, Michael Armin and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Continuous treatment with antidementia drugs in Germany 2003-2013: a retrospective database analysis}, series = {International psychogeriatrics}, volume = {27}, journal = {International psychogeriatrics}, number = {8}, publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press}, address = {New York}, issn = {1041-6102}, doi = {10.1017/S1041610215000654}, pages = {1335 -- 1342}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Background: Continuous treatment is an important indicator of medication adherence in dementia. However, long-term studies in larger clinical settings are lacking, and little is known about moderating effects of patient and service characteristics. Methods: Data from 12,910 outpatients with dementia (mean age 79.2 years; SD = 7.6 years) treated between January 2003 and December 2013 in Germany were included. Continuous treatment was analysed using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests. In addition, multivariate Cox regression models were fitted with continuous treatment as dependent variable and the predictors antidementia agent, age, gender, medical comorbidities, physician specialty, and health insurance status. Results: After one year of follow-up, nearly 60\% of patients continued drug treatment. Donezepil (HR: 0.88; 95\% CI: 0.82-0.95) and memantine (HR: 0.85; 0.79-0.91) patients were less likely to be discontinued treatment as compared to rivastigmine users. Patients were less likely to be discontinued if they were treated by specialist physicians as compared to general practitioners (HR: 0.44; 0.41-0.48). Younger male patients and patients who had private health insurance had a lower discontinuation risk. Regarding comorbidity, patients were more likely to be continuously treated with the index substance if a diagnosis of heart failure or hypertension had been diagnosed at baseline. Conclusions: Our results imply that besides type of antidementia agent, involvement of a specialist in the complex process of prescribing antidementia drugs can provide meaningful benefits to patients, in terms of more disease-specific and continuous treatment.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bohlken2016, author = {Bohlken, Jens}, title = {Ambulante medikament{\"o}se Behandlung von Patienten mit Demenz}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, year = {2016}, language = {de} } @article{KonradBohlkenRappetal.2016, author = {Konrad, Marcel and Bohlken, Jens and Rapp, Michael Armin and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Depression risk in patients with heart failure in primary care practices in Germany}, series = {International psychogeriatrics}, volume = {28}, journal = {International psychogeriatrics}, publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press}, address = {New York}, issn = {1041-6102}, doi = {10.1017/S1041610216000867}, pages = {1889 -- 1894}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background: The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of and risk factors for diagnosed depression in heart failure (HF) patients in German primary care practices. Methods: This study was a retrospective database analysis in Germany utilizing the Disease Analyzer (R) Database (IMS Health, Germany). The study population included 132,994 patients between 40 and 90 years of age from 1,072 primary care practices. The observation period was between 2004 and 2013. Follow-up lasted up to five years and ended in April 2015. A total of 66,497 HF patients were selected after applying exclusion criteria. The same number of 66,497 controls were chosen and were matched (1:1) to HF patients on the basis of age, sex, health insurance, depression diagnosis in the past, and follow-up duration after index date. Results: HF was a strong risk factor for diagnosed depression (p < 0.0001). A total of 10.5\% of HF patients and 6.3\% of matched controls developed depression after one year of follow-up (p < 0.001). Depression was documented in 28.9\% of the HF group and 18.2\% of the control group after the five-year follow-up (p < 0.001). Cancer, dementia, osteoporosis, stroke, and osteoarthritis were associated with a higher risk of developing depression. Male gender and private health insurance were associated with lower risk of depression. Conclusions: The risk of diagnosed depression is significantly increased in patients with HF compared to patients without HF in primary care practices in Germany.}, language = {en} } @article{BookersJacobBohlkenetal.2016, author = {Bookers, Anke and Jacob, Louis and Bohlken, Jens and Rapp, Michael Armin and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Persistence with antipsychotics in dementia patients in Germany}, series = {International journal of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics}, volume = {54}, journal = {International journal of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics}, publisher = {Dustri-Verlag Dr. Karl Feistle}, address = {Deisenhofen-M{\~A}¼nchen}, issn = {0946-1965}, doi = {10.5414/CP202631}, pages = {835 -- 840}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background/Aims: To analyze the duration of treatment with antipsychotics in German dementia patients. Methods: This study included patients aged 60 years and over with dementia who received a first-time antipsychotic prescription by psychiatrists between 2009 and 2013. The main outcome measure was the treatment rate for more than 6 months following the index date. Results: A total of 12,979 patients with dementia (mean age 82 years, 52.1\% living in nursing homes) were included. After 2 years of follow-up, 54.8\%, 57.2\%, 61.1\%, and 65.4\% of patients aged 60 - 69, 70 - 79, 80 - 89, and 90 - 99 years, respectively, received antipsychotic prescriptions. 63.9\% of subjects living in nursing homes and 55.0\% of subjects living at home also continued their treatment (p-value < 0.001). Conclusion: The percentage of dementia patients treated with anti psychotics is very high.}, language = {en} } @article{BookerJacobRappetal.2016, author = {Booker, Anke and Jacob, Louis E. C. and Rapp, Michael Armin and Bohlken, Jens and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Risk factors for dementia diagnosis in German primary care practices}, series = {International psychogeriatrics}, volume = {28}, journal = {International psychogeriatrics}, publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press}, address = {New York}, issn = {1041-6102}, doi = {10.1017/S1041610215002082}, pages = {1059 -- 1065}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background: Dementia is a psychiatric condition the development of which is associated with numerous aspects of life. Our aim was to estimate dementia risk factors in German primary care patients. Methods: The case-control study included primary care patients (70-90 years) with first diagnosis of dementia (all-cause) during the index period (01/2010-12/2014) (Disease Analyzer, Germany), and controls without dementia matched (1:1) to cases on the basis of age, sex, type of health insurance, and physician. Practice visit records were used to verify that there had been 10 years of continuous follow-up prior to the index date. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted with dementia as a dependent variable and the potential predictors. Conclusions: Risk factors for dementia found in this study are consistent with the literature. Nevertheless, the associations between statin, PPI and antihypertensive drug use, and decreased risk of dementia need further investigations.}, language = {en} } @article{BookerBohlkenRappetal.2016, author = {Booker, Anke and Bohlken, Jens and Rapp, Michael Armin and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Persistence with antidepressant drugs in patients with dementia: a retrospective database analysis}, series = {International journal of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics}, volume = {54}, journal = {International journal of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics}, publisher = {Dustri-Verlag Dr. Karl Feistle}, address = {Deisenhofen-M{\~A}¼nchen}, issn = {0946-1965}, doi = {10.5414/CP202572}, pages = {323 -- 329}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background: The aims of the present study are to determine what proportion of patients with dementia receives antidepressants, how long the treatment is administered, and what factors increase the risk of discontinuation. Methods: The study was based on Disease Analyzer database and included 1,203 general practitioners (GP) and 209 neurologists/psychiatrists (NP). 12,281 patients with a diagnosis of dementia and an initial prescription of an antidepressant drug between January 2004 and December 2013 were included. The main outcome measure was antidepressant discontinuation rates within 6 months of the index date. Results: After 6 months of follow-up, 52.7\% of dementia patients treated with antidepressants had stopped medication intake. There was a significantly decreased risk for treatment discontinuation for patients using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRRIs) or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSNRIs) compared to tricyclic antidepressants. There was a significantly increased risk of treatment discontinuation for older patients and patients treated in NP practice. Comorbidity of diabetes or history of stroke was associated with a decreased risk of treatment discontinuation. Conclusion: The study results show insufficient persistence in antidepressant treatment in dementia patients in a real world setting. The improvement must be achieved to ensure the treatment recommended in the guidelines.}, language = {en} } @misc{BookerJacobRappetal.2016, author = {Booker, Anke and Jacob, Louis E. C. and Rapp, Michael Armin and Bohlken, Jens and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Risk factors for dementia diagnosis in German primary care practices}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {449}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-413441}, pages = {7}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background: Dementia is a psychiatric condition the development of which is associated with numerous aspects of life. Our aim was to estimate dementia risk factors in German primary care patients. Methods: The case-control study included primary care patients (70-90 years) with first diagnosis of dementia (all-cause) during the index period (01/2010-12/2014) (Disease Analyzer, Germany), and controls without dementia matched (1:1) to cases on the basis of age, sex, type of health insurance, and physician. Practice visit records were used to verify that there had been 10 years of continuous follow-up prior to the index date. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted with dementia as a dependent variable and the potential predictors. Results: The mean age for the 11,956 cases and the 11,956 controls was 80.4 (SD: 5.3) years. 39.0\% of them were male and 1.9\% had private health insurance. In the multivariate regression model, the following variables were linked to a significant extent with an increased risk of dementia: diabetes (OR: 1.17; 95\% CI: 1.10-1.24), lipid metabolism (1.07; 1.00-1.14), stroke incl. TIA (1.68; 1.57-1.80), Parkinson's disease (PD) (1.89; 1.64-2.19), intracranial injury (1.30; 1.00-1.70), coronary heart disease (1.06; 1.00-1.13), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (2.12; 1.82-2.48), mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol use (1.96; 1.50-2.57). The use of statins (OR: 0.94; 0.90-0.99), proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) (0.93; 0.90-0.97), and antihypertensive drugs (0.96, 0.94-0.99) were associated with a decreased risk of developing dementia. Conclusions: Risk factors for dementia found in this study are consistent with the literature. Nevertheless, the associations between statin, PPI and antihypertensive drug use, and decreased risk of dementia need further investigations.}, language = {en} } @misc{KonradBohlkenRappetal.2016, author = {Konrad, Marcel and Bohlken, Jens and Rapp, Michael Armin and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Depression risk in patients with heart failure in primary care practices in Germany}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {458}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-414159}, pages = {6}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Background: The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of and risk factors for diagnosed depression in heart failure (HF) patients in German primary care practices. Methods: This study was a retrospective database analysis in Germany utilizing the Disease Analyzer (R) Database (IMS Health, Germany). The study population included 132,994 patients between 40 and 90 years of age from 1,072 primary care practices. The observation period was between 2004 and 2013. Follow-up lasted up to five years and ended in April 2015. A total of 66,497 HF patients were selected after applying exclusion criteria. The same number of 66,497 controls were chosen and were matched (1:1) to HF patients on the basis of age, sex, health insurance, depression diagnosis in the past, and follow-up duration after index date. Results: HF was a strong risk factor for diagnosed depression (p < 0.0001). A total of 10.5\% of HF patients and 6.3\% of matched controls developed depression after one year of follow-up (p < 0.001). Depression was documented in 28.9\% of the HF group and 18.2\% of the control group after the five-year follow-up (p < 0.001). Cancer, dementia, osteoporosis, stroke, and osteoarthritis were associated with a higher risk of developing depression. Male gender and private health insurance were associated with lower risk of depression. Conclusions: The risk of diagnosed depression is significantly increased in patients with HF compared to patients without HF in primary care practices in Germany.}, language = {en} } @article{BohlkenJacobSchaumetal.2017, author = {Bohlken, Jens and Jacob, Louis and Schaum, Peter and Rapp, Michael Armin and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Hip fracture risk in patients with dementia in German primary care practices}, series = {Dementia}, volume = {16}, journal = {Dementia}, publisher = {Sage Publ.}, address = {London}, issn = {1471-3012}, doi = {10.1177/1471301215621854}, pages = {853 -- 864}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The aim was to analyze the risk of hip fracture in German primary care patients with dementia. This study included patients aged 65-90 from 1072 primary care practices who were first diagnosed with dementia between 2010 and 2013. Controls were matched (1:1) to cases for age, sex, and type of health insurance. The primary outcome was the diagnosis of hip fracture during the three-year follow-up period. A total of 53,156 dementia patients and 53,156 controls were included. A total of 5.3\% of patients and 0.7\% of controls displayed hip fracture after three years. Hip fracture occurred more frequently in dementia subjects living in nursing homes than in those living at home (9.2\% versus 4.3\%). Dementia, residence in nursing homes, and osteoporosis were risk factors for fracture development. Antidementia, antipsychotic, and antidepressant drugs generally had no significant impact on hip fracture risk when prescribed for less than six months. Dementia increased hip fracture risk in German primary care practices.}, language = {en} } @article{BohlkenWeberSiebertetal.2017, author = {Bohlken, Jens and Weber, Simon A. and Siebert, Anke and Forstmeier, Simon and Kohlmann, Thomas and Rapp, Michael Armin}, title = {Reminiscence therapy for depression in dementia}, series = {GeroPsych - The Journal of gerontopsychology and geriatric psychiatry}, volume = {30}, journal = {GeroPsych - The Journal of gerontopsychology and geriatric psychiatry}, publisher = {Hogrefe}, address = {G{\"o}ttingen}, issn = {1662-9647}, doi = {10.1024/1662-9647/a000175}, pages = {145 -- 151}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We investigated the efficacy of reminiscence therapy (RT) on symptoms of depression in patients with mild to moderate dementia. Out of 227 patients with mild to moderate dementia from a specialized physician's office, 27 pairs (N = 54; mean age 79.04 ± 6.16 years) who had either received treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU combined with RT, were matched retrospectively according to age as well as cognitive and depressive symptom scores. After controlling for age and sex, symptoms of depression significantly decreased over time in the RT group compared to TAU (F1,52 = 4.36; p < .05). RT is a promising option for the treatment of depression in mild to moderate dementia. Larger randomized-controlled trials are needed.}, language = {en} } @misc{BohlkenJacobSchaumetal.2017, author = {Bohlken, Jens and Jacob, Louis and Schaum, Peter and Rapp, Michael Armin and Kostev, Karel}, title = {Hip fracture risk in patients with dementia in German primary care practices}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {395}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-404526}, pages = {12}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The aim was to analyze the risk of hip fracture in German primary care patients with dementia. This study included patients aged 65-90 from 1072 primary care practices who were first diagnosed with dementia between 2010 and 2013. Controls were matched (1:1) to cases for age, sex, and type of health insurance. The primary outcome was the diagnosis of hip fracture during the three-year follow-up period. A total of 53,156 dementia patients and 53,156 controls were included. A total of 5.3\% of patients and 0.7\% of controls displayed hip fracture after three years. Hip fracture occurred more frequently in dementia subjects living in nursing homes than in those living at home (9.2\% versus 4.3\%). Dementia, residence in nursing homes, and osteoporosis were risk factors for fracture development. Antidementia, antipsychotic, and antidepressant drugs generally had no significant impact on hip fracture risk when prescribed for less than six months. Dementia increased hip fracture risk in German primary care practices.}, language = {en} }