title: Mild versus moderate stages of Alzheimer's disease: three-year outcomes in a routine clinical setting of cholinesterase inhibitor therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is an increasing interest in cognitive and functional outcomes in the respective stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in novel therapies particularly for the milder phases of AD. Our aim was to describe and compare various aspects of disease progression in patients with mild versus moderate AD in routine clinical practice of cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This 3-year, prospective, observational, multicentre study included 1021 participants. Of these, 734 had mild AD (Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, 20-26) and 287 had moderate AD (MMSE score, 10-19) at the start of ChEI treatment. At baseline and every 6 months, patients were assessed using cognitive, global, instrumental and basic activities of daily living (ADL) scales. Potential predictors of deterioration in moderate AD were analysed using mixed-effects models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The change from baseline between participants with mild and moderate stages of AD after 3 years of ChEI therapy differed significantly on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) and basic ADL, but not using the MMSE and instrumental ADL scales. Protective independent factors for better cognitive long-term outcome in the group with moderate AD were older age, higher instrumental ADL ability, no antipsychotics, usage of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs/acetylsalicylic acid, living with family member, lower education and a higher mean dose of ChEI. Apolipoprotein E genotype did not influence the rates of disease progression or the longitudinal outcomes. Prediction models were provided for moderate AD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More sensitive cognitive measures, such as the ADAS-cog scale, are required to detect a possibly faster deterioration among the participants with moderate AD. This study highlighted the clinical importance of instrumental ADL evaluations in patients at a mild stage of AD, and the importance of optimizing the ChEI dose even for individuals with moderate AD. Solitary living was a risk factor for faster cognitive decline, and probably expanded the need for formal care in the group with moderate AD. The patients with more advanced AD and presumably more pronounced neuroinflammation might have additional cognitive benefits from longer-term treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, SE-205 02, Malmö, Sweden. carina.wattmo@skane.se.
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wattmo
authors.affiliation: Clinical Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, SE-205 02, Malmö, Sweden. lennart.minthon@skane.se.
authors.forename: Lennart
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Minthon
authors.affiliation: Clinical Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, SE-205 02, Malmö, Sweden. asa.k.wallin@skane.se.
authors.forename: Åsa K
authors.initials: ÅK
authors.lastname: Wallin
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D005702:Galantamine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000068836:Rivastigmine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D007189:Indans; D010880:Piperidines; D005702:Galantamine; D000077265:Donepezil; D000068836:Rivastigmine