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Efficacy of memantine on behavioral and psychological symptoms related to dementia: A systematic meta-analysis

Maidment, Ian D., Fox, Chris G., Boustani, Malaz, Rodriguez, Jorge, Brown, Ruth C., Katona, Cornelius (2008) Efficacy of memantine on behavioral and psychological symptoms related to dementia: A systematic meta-analysis. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 42 (1). pp. 32-38. ISSN 1060-0280. (doi:10.1345/aph.1K372) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:12200)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1345/aph.1K372

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The behavioral and psychological symptoms related to dementia (BPSD) are difficult to manage and are associated with adverse patient outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To systematically analyze the data on memantine in the treatment of BPSD. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Pharm-line, the Cochrane Centre Collaboration, www.clinicaltrials.gov, www.controlled-trials.com, and PsycINFO (1966-July 2007). We contacted manufacturers and scrutinized the reference sections of articles identified in our search for further references, including conference proceedings. Two researchers (IM and CF) independently reviewed all studies identified by the search strategy. We included 6 randomized, parallel-group, double-blind studies that rated BPSD with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) in our meta-analysis. Patients had probable Alzheimer's disease and received treatment with memantine for at least one month. Overall efficacy of memantine on the NPI was established with a t-test for the average difference between means across studies, using a random effects model. RESULTS: Five of the 6 studies identified had NPI outcome data. In these 5 studies, 868 patients were treated with memantine and 882 patients were treated with placebo. Patients on memantine improved by 1.99 on the NPI scale (95% CI -0.08 to -3.91; p = 0.041) compared with the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS: Initial data appear to indicate that memantine decreases NPI scores and may have a role in managing BPSD. However, there are a number of limitations with the current data; the effect size was relatively small, and whether memantine produces significant clinical benefit is not clear.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1345/aph.1K372
Uncontrolled keywords: Alzheimer's disease dementia memantine
Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: M.P. Stone
Date Deposited: 27 Mar 2009 17:13 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:50 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/12200 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Katona, Cornelius.

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