Dementia Japan 29: 78-85, 2015

Off-label medication for frontotemporal dementia in Japan

Shunichiro Shinagawa¹⁾, Yusuke Yatabe²⁾, Kazue Shigenobu³⁾, Ryuji Fukuhara²⁾, Mamoru Hashimoto²⁾, Manabu Ikeda²⁾, Kazuhiko Nakayama¹⁾

¹⁾Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University School of Medicine
²⁾Department of Psychiatry and Neuropathobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University
³⁾Asakayama Hospital

    In order to clearly the situation of off-label medication in Japan, we investigated the medication and demographic data of consecutive 87 subjects those were referred with the diagnosis of Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) syndrome.  60% of referring physicians were psychiatrists, followed by were neurologists, general physician, neurosurgeon, and other physicians.  Half of the subjects were treated with some kind of medications for dementia.  Cholinesterase inhibitor is prescribed for 20% of all subjects by various physicians, while psychotropic drugs were prescribed for 35% of all subjects mainly by psychiatrists.  Antidepressant and antipsychotics are most common among them.  Other background factors such as age, sex, duration, and MMSE scores are not associated with medication use.  We need to establish guideline of pharmacological treatment for patients with FTD.
Key wards:Frontotemporal dementia, off-label medication, cholinesterase inhibitor, psychotropic drugs, pharmacological treatment

Address correspondence to Dr. Shunichiro Shinagawa, Department of Psychiatry, The Jikei University School of Medicine(3-25-8 Nishi-shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan)