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59/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 59 out of 100. Treatments

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

Background Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) and memantine are commonly used in the management of dementia. In routine clinical practice, dementia is often monitored via the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of these drugs on MMSE scores.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: High

This is a pooled review. This meta-analysis found that pooled effects on MMSE scores favored both acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and memantine at 6 months. The effect of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors was twice as high in patients with Parkinson disease dementia or dementia with Lewy bodies compared with other dementia subtypes.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Knight, R., Khondoker, M., Magill, N., Stewart, R., & Landau, S. (2018). A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine in Treating the Cognitive Symptoms of Dementia. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders. https://doi.org/10.1159/000486546

Vancouver

Knight R, Khondoker M, Magill N, Stewart R, Landau S. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine in Treating the Cognitive Symptoms of Dementia. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders. 2018. doi:10.1159/000486546. PMID: 29734182.

BibTeX

@article{knight2018-29734182,
  author  = {Knight, R. and Khondoker, M. and Magill, N. and Stewart, R. and Landau, S.},
  title   = {{A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine in Treating the Cognitive Symptoms of Dementia}},
  journal = {Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders},
  year    = {2018},
  doi     = {10.1159/000486546},
  pmid    = {29734182},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1159/000486546}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: this is a pooled review. It combines earlier studies, so it is only as good as the studies it pools. Check how many were included, whether they were similar enough to combine, and whether the authors report inconsistency between them.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded high. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. High means the abstract mentions a randomized design, a meta-analysis or a systematic review. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

In routine clinical practice, dementia is often monitored via the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of these drugs on MMSE scores.
Pooled effect estimates were in favour of both AChEIs and memantine at 6 months.
Meta-regression indicated that dementia subtype was a moderator of AChEI treatment effect, with the effect of treatment versus control twice as high for patients with Parkinson disease dementia/ dementia with Lewy bodies (2.11 MMSE points at 6 months) as for patients with Alzheimer disease/vascular dementia (0.91 MMSE points at 6 months).

Why it matters

This meta-analysis found that pooled effects on MMSE scores favored both acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and memantine at 6 months. The effect of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors was twice as high in patients with Parkinson disease dementia or dementia with Lewy bodies compared with other dementia subtypes.

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Study details

Study designsystematic review
Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 59/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a systematic review of all the studies on the question. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported and studied in people because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders)
Journal's citation record	1 / 4	Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders: journal h-index 149 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	12 / 12	A systematic review of all the studies on the question
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	2 / 5	2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	A review of other studies — randomization is not credited here
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 161 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	16.1 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018
Impact for its field and year	2 / 6	Cited 2.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 7 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 51 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Sabine Landau: h-index 77 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	King's College London: institution h-index 1,348 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29734182)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	59 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

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