title: The relationship of serum anticholinergic activity to mental status performance in an elderly nursing home population.
abstract: Adverse drug reactions among elderly patients pose a significant clinical problem. The authors used a serum radioreceptor assay [RRA] to quantify drug-induced muscarinic blockade in 34 randomly selected nursing home residents. A random intervention group and the nonintervention control subjects were then retested 4 weeks later. The reduction of serum antimuscarinic activity (as determined by RRA) did relate to changes on several measures of cognitive function. A calculated "antimuscarinic index" lost significance with the RRA following intervention and may have overestimated the impact of a dosage reduction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center, Minnesota 55101.
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Tollefson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montague-Clouse
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Lancaster
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010276:Parasympatholytics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D011594:Psychometrics; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D010276:Parasympatholytics; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic