title: Comparison of functional and cognitive donepezil effects in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Donepezil has been shown to improve aspects of cognitive functioning in persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD), but its impact on instrumental activities of daily living has received little attention. In a within-subject design, 24 community-dwelling persons with AD were treated with open-label donepezil over a 12-month period. To assess functional abilities, a brief, objective measure of instrumental activities of daily living skills was used (Texas Functional Living Scale; TFLS). Global cognitive abilities were assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Changes in TFLS and MMSE scores were much the same. Improvements on the TFLS and MMSE were seen over a 3-month period. At 12 months, both TFLS and MMSE scores declined slightly below baseline. These results support an effect of donepezil on cognitive measures and day-to-day function and also suggest that the MMSE reflects well the actual functional ability of persons with moderate AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 75390-9070, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saine
authors.forename: C Munro
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cullum
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Martin-Cook
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hynan
authors.forename: Doris A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Svetlik
authors.forename: Myron F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Weiner
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000077265:Donepezil; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D007189:Indans; D010880:Piperidines; D000077265:Donepezil