Prescribing trend of antipsychotic in Hong Kong: From 2004 to 2014

Abstract

Aim/Objective: To describe the prescribing trend of antipsychotics prescriptions in Hong Kong general population. Methods: Prescription and dispensing records were retrieved from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System (CDARS), in the study period from 1st Jan 2004 to 31st Dec 2014. The prevalence of antipsychotic prescriptions were investigated and with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained. Results: A total of 256,848 patients were prescribed with antipsychotics in the study period. Females represented 57.1% (n=132,869) of patients on antipsychotics. The prevalence of antipsychotic prescribing increased steadily, from 1.050% (95% CI = [1.042%-1.057%]) in 2004 to 1.507% (95% CI = [1.498%-1.516%]) in 2014. The prescribing of conventional antipsychotics dropped from 643,996 to 381,639, a 40.7% reduction from 2004 to 2014, while atypical antipsychotics increased from 186,660 to 656,664 prescriptions, representing an increase in volume by 2.5 times in the same period. The number of depot injections decreased from 85,248 (9.9%) in 2005 to 76,725 (7.4%) in 2014. Haloperidol is the most frequently prescribed antipsychotic, however proportion of patients on which decreased from 41.7% (n=29,356) to 27.0% (n=29,427). The most popular atypical antipsychotic was quetiapine in 2014, proportion of patients on which was 23.5% (n=25,657). Conclusion: The prevalence of antipsychotic medication prescribing in Hong Kong is increasing in the study period. Atypical antipsychotics are becoming more widely used in place of conventional antipsychotics. Due to the increasing usage, further research is required to assess the safety and effectiveness associated with antipsychotics.