title: Off-label medication use in frontotemporal dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications indicated for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We sought to determine the most commonly used drugs used to treat behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) in specialized dementia clinics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medication and demographic data from the Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers of California (ARCC) and a multicenter FTD natural history study (NHS) data set were compared in bvFTD and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and effects of demographic variables were assessed using logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the percentage of patients taking one or more FDA-approved AD or psychiatric medications was similar in bvFTD and AD; however, after controlling for demographic variables, acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChI) use was less common in bvFTD, whereas memantine use remained similar in the 2 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite lack of evidence for efficacy, the use of AChIs and memantine is common in bvFTD. Clinical trials should be pursued to determine the optimal therapeutic interventions for bvFTD.
authors.affiliation: Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.lastname: Bei Hu
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Neuhaus
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Knopman
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boeve
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Caselli
authors.forename: Neill
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Graff-Radford
authors.forename: Mario F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Mendez
authors.forename: Bruce L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Adam L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Boxer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D002140:California; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008559:Memantine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D015259:Dopamine Agents; D008559:Memantine