Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use and Alzheimer disease in community-dwelling elderly patients.
OBJECTIVE
Recently, greater attention has been paid to the role of inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer disease (AD). However, the mechanism by which anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) might slow the progression of AD is not completely known. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between NSAIDs use and AD in a large sample of community-dwelling elderly people.


METHODS
In a cross-sectional retrospective study, the authors analyzed data on patients admitted to home care programs. A total of 12 home health agencies participated in the project, with a total of 2,708 patients enrolled in the present study. The main outcome measures were the prevalence of AD and use of NSAIDs treatment.


RESULTS
Compared with all non-users, NSAID users had a nearly 50% lower risk of being affected by AD. Separate multivariate analyses of subjects receiving different types of NSAIDs found a significantly decreased risk of cognitive impairment associated with non-aspirin NSAID use, whereas, among subjects taking aspirin, the difference in estimated risk did not reach statistical significance.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this population-based cross-sectional study are consistent with the notion that long-term NSAIDs use has a protective effect against AD. However, after possible confounding effects of age and several other variables potentially associated with cognitive impairment were controlled, this association was statistically significant only for non-aspirin NSAIDs use.
Landi
Francesco
F
Department of Gerontology-Geriatric and Physiatric, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy. francesco_landi@rm.unicatt.it.
Cesari
Matteo
M
Onder
Graziano
G
Russo
Andrea
A
Torre
Sergio
S
Bernabei
Roberto
R
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003153:Community Health Services; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal