Trends in the Consumption of Anti-dementia Drugs by Region, Provider Type, and Diagnostic Code in South Korea

Considering the lack of recent data regarding the utilization trend of anti-dementia treatments at the national level, in this study, we aimed to investigate the utilization trend between 2016 and 2020 using claims data from the nationwide database of Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) in South Korea. We used the HIRA Bigdata Open System, which provides user-interactive statistics that involve the utilization of drugs by region, provider type, and diagnostic code. The cost and utilization of donepezil were investigated from 2016 to 2020. Variables of interest were the cost and utilization volume, which were measured in US dollars ($) and defined daily dose (DDD), respectively. Donepezil showed the highest proportion of sales (80.3% in US$ and 75.8% in DDD) among the four anti-dementia drugs in 2020. A total of 80.7% of donepezil in US$ (69.8% in DDD) was supplied by community pharmacies, followed by long-term care hospitals (LTCH). The cost of donepezil in LTCH has decreased, whereas its DDD has remained stagnant, implying that prescribers have moved to cheaper products. With respect to the type of dementia, the cost of donepezil treatment for Alzheimer s disease has increased, whereas its cost for vascular dementia has decreased since 2019. After the revision of the National Health Insurance reimbursement scheme for anti-dementia drugs, some changes in the utilization of donepezil have been observed. This study provides recent statistical evidence on the use of anti-dementia drugs in South Korea.