title: Clinical efficacy and changes in the dosages of concomitantly used psychotropic drugs in memantine therapy in Alzheimer's disease with behavioral and psychological symptoms on dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the clinical efficacy and changes in the dosages of concomitantly used psychotropic drugs in memantine therapy in Alzheimer's disease (AD) with behavioral and psychological symptoms on dementia (BPSD).
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 38 inpatients who had been diagnosed with AD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). The outcome measures assessed were BPSD and cognitive function. BPSD was assessed using the neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI) and cognitive function was assessed using the mini-mental examination (MMSE). The changes in the dosages of concomitant psychotropic drugs were also assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SIGNIFICANT DECREASES WERE FOUND IN THE MEMANTINE THERAPY GROUP IN THE FOLLOWING NPI TOTAL SCORE AND FIVE NPI SUBSCALES: delusions, hallucinations, agitation, irritability, and aberrant motor behavior, but no significant differences were seen between the memantine therapy group and the control group. Furthermore, the memantine therapy group allowed the dosage of the psychotropic drugs to be significantly reduced compared with the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study suggest that the administration of memantine to patients with AD with BPSD may afford superior efficacy and may also make it possible to reduce the risperidone equivalent dose, the diazepam equivalent dose and the dosage of the psychotropic drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tanzawa Hospital, 557 Horiyamashita, Hadano, Kanagawa, 259-1304, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidenobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Akiyoshi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishiyama
authors.forename: Katsunaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.forename: Keishi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gen
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; behavioral and psychological symptoms on dementia; memantine; psychotropic drugs