title: Effects of drug burden index on cognitive function in older men.
abstract: We aimed to assess the relationship between Drug Burden Index (DBI), a risk assessment tool that measures anticholinergic and sedative medication exposure and cognitive performance, and cognitive impairment in older people. The study population consisted of community-dwelling older men, 70 years or older, living in Sydney, Australia. The Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE) and the Trail Making Task (TMT) cognitive tests were performed, and participants were categorized as having intact cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia using clinical diagnostic criteria. The analyses were restricted to participants with English-speaking background (n = 987) and to the subgroup whose cognition was intact (n = 887). In the study group, DBI exposure was not associated with poorer performance on the ACE (odds ratio [OR], 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-1.47) or the TMT (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.40-1.24) tests, after controlling for covariates. Similarly, DBI exposure was not associated with cognitive impairment (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 0.83-2.16). There was no association between increasing DBI scores and poorer performance on any of the outcomes. On subgroup analysis of cognitively intact subgroup, DBI exposure or increasing DBI scores were not associated with poorer performance on the ACE or the TMT tests. In this study of community-dwelling older men, DBI was not associated with limitations on objective cognitive performance measures or with a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Clinical Pharmacology and Aged Care, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia. danijela.gnjidic@sydney.edu.au
authors.forename: Danijela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gnjidic
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Le Couteur
authors.forename: Vasi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Naganathan
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Cumming
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Creasey
authors.forename: Louise M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Waite
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Fiona M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Blyth
authors.forename: Sarah N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Hilmer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives