title: Safety and efficacy of donepezil in African Americans with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  African Americans have a higher incidence and prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) than whites but have been underrepresented in clinical trials, including studies of cholinesterase inhibitors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this 12-week, open-label study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of donepezil in African Americans with mild-to-moderate AD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Efficacy was assessed via the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinician's Interview-Based Impression of Change-Plus interview with the patient and caregiver (CIBIC-Plus) and Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME), a measure that has been validated for use with elderly African Americans.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant improvements were observed in cognition (MMSE), global function (CIBIC-Plus) and memory (all four subscales of the FOME). Donepezil was well tolerated; 51% of patients experienced adverse events, most commonly diarrhea (5.6%), hypertension (5.6%) and urinary tract infection (4.8%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that donepezil is effective and safe in treating African Americans with mild-to-moderate AD, and support the value of FOME in assessing efficacy in AD trials in diverse populations.
authors.affiliation: Section of Neurology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. pgriffith@mmc.edu
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lichtenberg
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Payne-Parrish
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D007189:Indans; D010880:Piperidines; D000077265:Donepezil