Nursing Home Placement Delayed With Donepezil Treatment
| Geriatric Times |
 |
September/October 2001 |
|
Vol. II |
|
Issue 5 |
Study results presented at the American Association for Geriatric
Psychiatry14th Annual Meeting showed that patients with Alzheimer's disease
(AD) who received continued doses of donepezil (Aricept) were able to delay
nursing home placement. Patients who received at least 5 mg/day of donepezil
for nine to 12 months had a 21-month delay to nursing home placement compared
to patients who received either placebo or limited donepezil (less than 5
mg/day or at least 5 mg/day for less than 80% of the duration of the clinical
trial).
The time to nursing home placement was analyzed for 671 patients with mild
to moderate AD who had participated in earlier efficacy studies for donepezil.
Caregivers were interviewed to obtain information on dates and reasons for
nursing home placements of at least two weeks duration. Time estimates to
nursing home placement took into account age, gender, severity of illness and
possible use of other cholinesterase-inhibiting drugs after the initial
efficacy trials.
Time to nursing home placement for patients who received an effective dose
of donepezil for the full length of the trial was 66-months compared to 45
months for patients who received limited or no donepezil treatment--TB
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