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Treatment Practices of Mild Cognitive Impairment in California Alzheimer's Disease Centers
Author(s) -
Weinstein Andrea M.,
Barton Cynthia,
Ross Leslie,
Kramer Joel H.,
Yaffe Kristine
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2009.02200.x
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetes mellitus , disease , neuropsychology , logistic regression , memantine , cognitive impairment , alzheimer's disease , dementia , pediatrics , cognition , psychiatry , endocrinology
OBJECTIVES: To examine “real world” treatments for patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). DESIGN: Cross‐sectional. SETTING: California Department of Public Health Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Research Centers of California. PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred seventy‐eight patients diagnosed with MCI. MEASUREMENTS: All patients underwent comprehensive neurological and neuropsychological evaluations. Logistic regression models were used to determine patient characteristics associated with use of anti‐AD medications, statins, antioxidants, and folic acid. RESULTS: One hundred sixty‐six patients (28.7%) were taking anti‐AD medications; use was associated with greater functional impairment, higher education, MCI subtype, and older age ( P <.05 for all). Two hundred fifty‐two patients (43.6%) were taking statins; use was associated with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, myocardial infarct, male sex, and MCI subtype ( P <.05 for all). One hundred fifteen patients (19.9%) were taking antioxidants; use was associated with higher education and diabetes mellitus and varied according to site ( P <.05 for all). Thirty‐seven patients (6.4%) were taking folic acid; use was associated with nonwhite race, male sex, and greater functional impairment ( P <.05 for all). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that patients with MCI are frequently being treated with “off label” cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine, as well as other possible cognition‐enhancing drugs. Further investigation of the effect of treatment patterns on the clinical course of MCI is needed.