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Mild versus moderate stages of Alzheimer's disease: three-year outcomes in a routine clinical setting of cholinesterase inhibitor therapy.

Wattmo, Carina LU ; Minthon, Lennart LU and Wallin, Åsa LU (2016) In Alzheimer's Research & Therapy 8(1).
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... (More)
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. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cognition, Activities of daily living, Cholinesterase inhibitors, Treatment effect, Alzheimer’s disease stages, Predictors, Longitudinal study, Statistical models
in
Alzheimer's Research & Therapy
volume
8
issue
1
article number
7
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • pmid:26883213
  • scopus:84958243994
  • wos:000370122400001
  • pmid:26883213
ISSN
1758-9193
DOI
10.1186/s13195-016-0174-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6999727f-5f12-4cc3-8e97-188b443cc4de (old id 8825304)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26883213?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:35:56
date last changed
2022-05-15 06:02:40
@article{6999727f-5f12-4cc3-8e97-188b443cc4de,
  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.<br/><br>
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.<br/><br>
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.<br/><br>
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.}},
  author       = {{Wattmo, Carina and Minthon, Lennart and Wallin, Åsa}},
  issn         = {{1758-9193}},
  keywords     = {{Cognition; Activities of daily living; Cholinesterase inhibitors; Treatment effect; Alzheimer’s disease stages; Predictors; Longitudinal study; Statistical models}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Alzheimer's Research & Therapy}},
  title        = {{Mild versus moderate stages of Alzheimer's disease: three-year outcomes in a routine clinical setting of cholinesterase inhibitor therapy.}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3470443/8863442.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s13195-016-0174-1}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}