Home › Research › Getting a diagnosis
Drugs with anticholinergic properties, cognitive decline, and dementia in an elderly general population: the 3-city study
Carrière I, Fourrier-Reglat A, Dartigues JF, Rouaud O, Pasquier F, Ritchie K, Ancelin ML.. Archives of internal medicine, 2009-07-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Despite the high intake of medications with anticholinergic properties by community-dwelling elderly persons, the effects on cognitive decline and dementia have rarely been evaluated. Methods Participants were 4128 women and 2784 men 65 years or older from a population-based cohort recruited from 3 French cities. Cognitive performance, clinical diagnosis of dementia, and anticholinergic use were evaluated at baseline and 2 and 4 years later. Results A total of 7.5% of the participants reported anticholinergic drug use at baseline. Multivariate-adjusted logistic regression indicated that women reporting use of anticholinergic drugs at baseline showed greater decline over 4 years in verbal fluency scores (odds ratio [OR], 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.79) and in global cognitive functioning (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.96-1.55) than women not using anticholinergic drugs. In men, an association was found with decline in visual memory (OR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.08-2.47) and to a lesser extent in executive function (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 0.89-2.44). Notable interactions were observed in women between anticholinergic use and age, apolipoprotein E, or hormone therapy. A 1.4- to 2-fold higher risk of cognitive decline was observed for those who continuously used anticholinergic drugs but not for those who had discontinued use. The risk of incident dementia over the 4-year follow-up period was also increased in continuous users (hazard ratio [HR], 1.65; 95% CI, 1.00-2.73) but not in those who discontinued the use of anticholinergic drugs (HR, 1.28; 95% CI, 0.59-2.76). Conclusions Elderly people taking anticholinergic drugs were at increased risk for cognitive decline and dementia. Discontinuing anticholinergic treatment was associated with a decreased risk. Physicians should carefully consider prescription of anticholinergic drugs in elderly people, especially in the very elderly and in persons at high genetic risk for cognitive disorder.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Carrière, I., Fourrier-Reglat, A., Dartigues, J. F., Rouaud, O., Pasquier, F., Ritchie, K., et al. (2009). Drugs with anticholinergic properties, cognitive decline, and dementia in an elderly general population: the 3-city study. Archives of internal medicine. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2009.229
Vancouver
Carrière I, Fourrier-Reglat A, Dartigues JF, Rouaud O, Pasquier F, Ritchie K, et al. Drugs with anticholinergic properties, cognitive decline, and dementia in an elderly general population: the 3-city study. Archives of internal medicine. 2009. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2009.229. PMID: 19636034.
BibTeX
@article{carriere2009-19636034,
author = {Carrière, I. and Fourrier-Reglat, A. and Dartigues, J. F. and Rouaud, O. and Pasquier, F. and Ritchie, K. and Ancelin, M. L.},
title = {{Drugs with anticholinergic properties, cognitive decline, and dementia in an elderly general population: the 3-city study}},
journal = {Archives of internal medicine},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1001/archinternmed.2009.229},
pmid = {19636034},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2009.229}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Results A total of 7.5% of the participants reported anticholinergic drug use at baseline.
- Multivariate-adjusted logistic regression indicated that women reporting use of anticholinergic drugs at baseline showed greater decline over 4 years in verbal fluency scores (odds ratio [OR], 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.79) and in global cognitive functioning (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.96-1.55) than women not using anticholinergic drugs.
- A 1.4- to 2-fold higher risk of cognitive decline was observed for those who continuously used anticholinergic drugs but not for those who had discontinued use.
- Conclusions Elderly people taking anticholinergic drugs were at increased risk for cognitive decline and dementia.
- Discontinuing anticholinergic treatment was associated with a decreased risk.
Why it matters
This population-based study found that women reporting use of anticholinergic drugs at baseline showed greater decline over 4 years in verbal fluency and global cognitive functioning, and men showed decline in visual memory. A 1.4- to 2-fold higher risk of cognitive decline was observed for those who continuously used anticholinergic drugs but not for those who had discontinued use.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Getting a diagnosis →
Study details
- Effect size7.5%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 53/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Archives of internal medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Archives of Internal Medicine: journal h-index 462 (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 | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2009 — within 20 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 | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 369 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 19.4 citations a year over 19 year(s) since 2009 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 12.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 10 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 32 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Marie‐Laure Ancelin: h-index 63 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Inserm: institution h-index 1,988 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 19636034) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 53 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.229
- PubMed: 19636034
- Original source →
- Free full text: HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Later studies that cite this one
10 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references. Showing the 8 highest-scoring.
Related studies in Getting a diagnosis
Also tagged “biobank”
1,084 studies in the library carry the topic tag “biobank”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,084 tagged studies.