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Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease: response to donepezil
Lott IT, Osann K, Doran E, Nelson L.. Archives of neurology, 2002-07-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background Individuals with Down syndrome who develop Alzheimer disease may show an improvement in cognitive functioning after treatment with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Objective To determine whether individuals with Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease will show improvement after institution of donepezil treatment. Design A nonrandomized controlled trial using donepezil in a pilot study format. Setting Academic medical center. Patients Convenience sample of 6 treated patients with Down syndrome and 9 closely matched historical control subjects. Intervention Oral administration of donepezil for a 5-month period. Primary outcome measure The Down Syndrome Dementia Scale. Results Significant improvement in dementia scores for the treated group during a 3- to 5-month period (P =.03). Conclusions Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors may be helpful in reversing the symptoms of dementia during early and middle stages of cognitive decline. These findings support the rationale for a more extensive study of the efficacy of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in Down syndrome dementia.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Lott, I. T., Osann, K., Doran, E., & Nelson, L. (2002). Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease: response to donepezil. Archives of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.59.7.1133
Vancouver
Lott IT, Osann K, Doran E, Nelson L. Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease: response to donepezil. Archives of neurology. 2002. doi:10.1001/archneur.59.7.1133. PMID: 12117361.
BibTeX
@article{lott2002-12117361,
author = {Lott, I. T. and Osann, K. and Doran, E. and Nelson, L.},
title = {{Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease: response to donepezil}},
journal = {Archives of neurology},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1001/archneur.59.7.1133},
pmid = {12117361},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.59.7.1133}
}
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Key findings
- Results Significant improvement in dementia scores for the treated group during a 3- to 5-month period (P =.03).
- These findings support the rationale for a more extensive study of the efficacy of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in Down syndrome dementia.
Why it matters
In this small pilot study of 6 treated patients with Down syndrome and Alzheimer disease compared with 9 historical controls, dementia scores improved significantly over 3 to 5 months on donepezil. The authors call for a larger study, so this is preliminary evidence about symptom treatment, not a cure or prevention.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 42/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Archives of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Archives of Neurology: journal h-index 353 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2002 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| 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 | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 97 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 3.7 citations a year over 26 year(s) since 2002 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 8.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 12 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 5 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Linda D. Nelson: h-index 17 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | University of California, Irvine Medical Center: institution h-index 298 (OpenAlex) |
| Multicenter collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12117361) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 42 / 100 | — |
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