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Attainment of treatment goals by people with Alzheimer's disease receiving galantamine: a randomized controlled trial
Rockwood K, Fay S, Song X, MacKnight C, Gorman M, Video-Imaging Synthesis of Treating Alzheimer's Disease (VISTA) Investigators.. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2006-03-22
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background Although cholinesterase inhibitors have produced statistically significant treatment effects, their clinical meaningfulness in Alzheimer's disease is disputed. An important aspect of clinical meaningfulness is the extent to which an intervention meets the goals of treatment. Methods In this randomized controlled trial, patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease were treated with either galantamine or placebo for 4 months, followed by a 4-month open-label extension during which all patients received galantamine.
Key findings
- An important aspect of clinical meaningfulness is the extent to which an intervention meets the goals of treatment.
- Methods In this randomized controlled trial, patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease were treated with either galantamine or placebo for 4 months, followed by a 4-month open-label extension during which all patients received galantamine.
- The primary outcome measures were Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) scores from assessments by clinicians and by patients or caregivers of treatment goals set before treatment and evaluated every 2 months.
- Secondary outcome measures included the cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog), the Clinician's Interview-based Impression of Change plus Caregiver Input (CIBIC-plus), the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) and the Caregiving Burden Scale (CBS).
Why it matters
In this randomized controlled trial, patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease received galantamine or placebo for 4 months, followed by a 4-month open-label extension in which all received galantamine. The available text does not report whether galantamine helped patients meet their treatment goals.
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Study details
- Study designrandomized controlled trial
- Participants159
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 64/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, so that was left out: it earned 61 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 64 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial |
| 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 | 1 / 5 | 2006 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 159 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 168 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.6 citations a year over 22 year(s) since 2006 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 9.8× 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 | 2 / 4 | Cited 20 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Ken Rockwood: h-index 11 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Dalhousie University: institution h-index 778 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 16554498) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 61 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 61 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 64 out of 100. |
| Total | 64 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.051432
- PubMed: 16554498
- Original source →
- Free full text: Canadian Medical Association Journal →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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.
APA 7th
Rockwood, K., Fay, S., Song, X., MacKnight, C., & Gorman, M. (2006). Attainment of treatment goals by people with Alzheimer's disease receiving galantamine: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.051432
Vancouver
Rockwood K, Fay S, Song X, MacKnight C, Gorman M. Attainment of treatment goals by people with Alzheimer's disease receiving galantamine: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne. 2006. doi:10.1503/cmaj.051432. PMID: 16554498.
BibTeX
@article{rockwood2006-16554498,
author = {Rockwood, K. and Fay, S. and Song, X. and MacKnight, C. and Gorman, M.},
title = {{Attainment of treatment goals by people with Alzheimer's disease receiving galantamine: a randomized controlled trial}},
journal = {CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1503/cmaj.051432},
pmid = {16554498},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.051432}
}
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