[Effectiveness of donepezil at six months in the treatment of cognition deterioration in patients with Alzheimer-type dementia].
BACKGROUND
We compared two groups of patients with cognitive deterioration secondary to Alzheimer's disease (AD) of minimal and slight degree (CAMDEX criteria), one treated with donepezil and the other without this drug (a case history sample) over a period of six months.


METHODS
Both groups received the CAMCOG battery of neuropsychological tests at basal (pretreatment) time and six months later.


RESULTS
Those in the study sample who received donepezil (5-10 mg/day) were 91 patients (average age: 75.25, standard deviation = 6.01) of whom 28.6% were men. The control group, who did not receive anticholinesterase drugs (case history sample) consisted of 84 persons (average age: 75.98, standard deviation = 5.01) with 29.8% men. There were no significant differences with regard to age, sex, basal CAMCOG score or period of time between the two CAMCOG determinations. The averages of the differences between the basal CAMCOG scores and those six months later in the two groups was statistically significant (-1.5275 +/- 7.8458 against -6.7143 +/- 6.1234; p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis of repeat measurements corroborates these findings since significant differences were found between the two groups (p < 0.001) in the results of CAMCOG after six months.


CONCLUSIONS
Donepezil was seen to be effective in that it delayed cognitive deterioration after six months in patients with minimal and slight degrees of AD.
López-Pousa
S
S
Unidad de Valoración de la Memoria y las Demencias, UFISS programa Vida als Anys Hospital Santa Caterina, Girona, España. bibliotecahsc@ias.scs.es
Vilalta-Franch
J
J
Garre-Olmo
J
J
Turón-Estrada
A
A
Hernández-Ferrándiz
M
M
Cruz-Reina
M L
ML
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
D007189:Indans; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D010880:Piperidines; D000077265:Donepezil