Review: cholinesterase inhibitors may be effective in Alzheimer’s disease

• Published in: BMJ evidence-based medicine Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 23
• Main Author: Luckmann, Roger
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.02.2006; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Caregivers; cholinesterase inhibitors; Clinical outcomes; Inventory; Studies
• ISSN: 1356-5524; 2515-446X; 1473-6810; 2515-4478
• DOI: 10.1136/ebm.11.1.23

Outcomes Number of RCTs Summary of findings ADAS-cog 14 Differences between means ranged from 1.5-3.9 points in favour of cholinesterase inhibitors (12 RCTs) CIBIC-plus 12 Differences between means ranged from 0.26-0.54 points in favour of cholinesterase inhibitors (5 RCTs) Benefit on the CIBIC plus 11 More patients in [= or >, slanted] 1 treatment group than in the placebo group derived benefit from the treatment (5 RCTs) Time to clinically evident functional decline 1 Donepezil extended median time to clinically evident functional decline by 5 months relative to placebo Entry to institutional care 1 Groups did not differ Neuropsychiatric inventory 2 A negative effect of withdrawal of donepezil (1 RCT) Gottfries-Brane-Steen scale 1 Donepezil and placebo groups did not differ CGIC scale 3 Difference favoured donepezil (1 RCT) Progressive Deterioration Scale 2 Difference favoured rivastigmine (1 RCT) ADAS-cog = Alzheimer's Disease Assessment-cognitive subscale; CIBIC-plus = Clinician's Interview-Based Impression of Change scale plus caregiver input; CGIC = Clinical Global Impression of Change; RCT = randomised controlled trial.