Detailed cognitive function and use of drugs with anticholinergic properties in older people: a community-based cross-sectional study.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Many potentially inappropriate drugs prescribed to older people have anticholinergic properties and may therefore be harmful. Drugs with anticholinergic properties (DAPs) are associated with cognitive decline.

OBJECTIVE:

Our aim was to study the profile of various cognitive functions related to current use of DAPs.

METHODS:

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Helsinki, Finland, and included 400 home-dwelling individuals aged 75-90 years without major clinical dementia but with a history of stable atherosclerotic disease who were participants of the DEBATE (Drugs and Evidence-Based Medicine in the Elderly) study. The cognition of the users (n = 295) and non-users (n = 105) of DAPs was measured with the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) test battery.

RESULTS:

Use of DAPs was statistically significantly associated with a low score in verbal fluency, in naming, and on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). In the logistic regression analysis, the difference remained for low verbal fluency (odds ratio [OR] 1.84, 95 % CI 1.02-3.32; p = 0.044) and naming (OR 1.81, 95 % CI 1.09-3.00; p = 0.021) but not for MMSE score after adjusting for age, sex and education.

CONCLUSIONS:

Performances for verbal fluency and naming were poorer in DAP users than in non-users, suggesting a possible impairment of executive functioning and semantic memory. The dimensions of the CERAD test assessing episodic memory-the subtests that are the most sensitive in terms of detecting early Alzheimer's disease-did not show differences between users and non-users of DAPs.

• Authors: Juho Uusvaara, Kaisu H Pitkala, Hannu Kautiainen, Reijo S Tilvis, Timo E Strandberg
• Journal: Drugs & aging (Drugs Aging) Vol. 30 Issue 3 Pg. 177-82 (Mar 2013) ISSN: 1179-1969 [Electronic] New Zealand
• PMID: 23361527 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Apolipoprotein E4
• Cholinergic Antagonists

Topics

• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Alleles
• Apolipoprotein E4 (genetics)
• Cardiovascular Diseases (drug therapy)
• Cholinergic Antagonists (adverse effects)
• Cognition Disorders (chemically induced, epidemiology, genetics)
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Female
• Finland (epidemiology)
• Humans
• Male
• Memory (drug effects)
• Psychological Tests