SELEGILINE IN THE TREATMENT OF BEHAVIOURAL DISTURBANCE IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

✍ Scribed by BRIAN A. LAWLOR; PAUL S. AISEN; CYNTHIA GREEN; ELIZABETH FINE; JAMES SCHMEIDLER

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 97 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199703)12:3<319::aid-gps488>3.0.co;2-q

✦ Synopsis

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the behavioural and cognitive eects of selegiline in a group of moderately behaviourally disturbed AD patients.

Design. This was a 14-week randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study of selegiline (10 mg) and placebo.

Setting. An outpatient clinic in an urban-based tertiary referral centre in the USA.

Patients. Twenty-®ve outpatients meeting NINCDS criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease with associated behavioural disturbance.

Measures. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Dementia Mood Assessment Scale (DMAS) and the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale (Cognitive) (ADAS-COG).

Results. In the primary analysis, improvement on the BPRS and DMAS scores with selegeline treatment did not reach statistical signi®cance. A secondary analysis using a parallel design showed a signi®cant bene®t of drug treatment on BPRS scores with a trend towards improvement on the DMAS. Among the 10 subjects who could be tested, there was a signi®cant improvement in cognitive function on the ADAS-COG with selegiline compared to placebo.

Conclusions. Short-term selegiline treatment produced an improvement in behaviour and had a signi®cant eect on cognition in a subset of testable patients. (# 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.