Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities Experimental Statistics 2019 to 2020

The clinical codes used to define the medicines being prescribed can be found in the Business Rules.

Antipsychotics can help to reduce and control many psychotic symptoms.

However, they are not suitable or effective for everyone as side effects can affect people differently.

Each year between 2015-16 and 2019-20, a significantly larger percentage of patients with a learning disability have been prescribed Antipsychotics compared to patients without a learning disability.

This ranges from a difference of 14.9 percentage points in 2015-16 to 14.3 percentage points in 2019-20.

The percentage of patients with a learning disability being prescribed Antipsychotics has fallen by 0.6 percentage points (15.8% to 15.2%) between 2015-16 and 2019-20. The percentage of patients without a learning disability being prescribed Antipsychotics has remained steady over the same period.

Benzodiazepines act as a sedative – slowing down the body’s functions – and are used to treat sleeping problems and anxiety.

Each year between 2015-16 and 2019-20, a significantly larger percentage of patients with a learning disability have been prescribed Benzodiazepines compared to patients without a learning disability.

The percentage of patients being prescribed Benzodiazepines has fallen for both cohorts of patients between 2015-16 and 2019-20 (0.7 percentage points for patients with a learning disability and 0.6 percentage points for patients without a learning disability).

Antidepressants are a type of medicine used to treat clinical depression. They can also be used to treat several other conditions, including long-term (chronic) pain.

Each year between 2015-16 and 2019-20, a significantly larger percentage of patients with a learning disability without an active depression diagnosis were treated with antidepressants compared to patients without a learning disability.

The percentage of patients with a learning disability without an active depression diagnosis being treated with antidepressants has risen by 1.2 percentage points (10.4% to 11.6%) between 2015-16 and 2019-20.  The percentage of patients without a learning disability and without an active depression diagnosis being treated with antidepressants has remained steady over the same period.

AEDs are a type of medication most commonly used in the treatment of epilepsy. They do not cure epilepsy but can stop seizures happening. AEDs are also used to treat other things such as bipolar disorder or migraines.

Each year between 2015-16 and 2019-20, a significantly larger percentage of patients with a learning disability without an active epilepsy diagnosis were treated with epilepsy drugs compared to patients without a learning disability.

The percentage of patients without an active epilepsy diagnosis currently treated with epilepsy drugs has risen for both cohorts of patients between 2015-16 and 2019-20 (0.4 percentage points for patients with a learning disability and 0.3 percentage points for patients without a learning disability).