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Effects of rivastigmine on cognitive function in dementia with lewy bodies: a randomised placebo-controlled international study using the cognitive drug research computerised assessment system
Wesnes KA, McKeith IG, Ferrara R, Emre M, Del Ser T, Spano PF, Cicin-Sain A, Anand R et al.. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders, 2002-01-01
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
This study was designed to assess the effects of rivastigmine (Exelon) on the cognitive functioning of patients suffering from dementia with Lewy bodies. This was a prospective, multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled exploratory study conducted at sites in the UK, Spain and Italy. The treatment period was 20 weeks with a 3-week posttreatment follow-up. The primary outcome measures were the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised assessment system and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Testing was conducted prior to dosing and then again at weeks 12, 20 and 23. Analysis of the data from the 92 patients who completed the study identified a significant pattern of benefits of rivastigmine over placebo on the CDR system. These benefits were seen on tests of attention, working memory and episodic secondary memory. Taking attention for example, patients given placebo showed a significant deterioration from predosing scores at 12 and 20 weeks, whereas patients on rivastigmine performed significantly above their predosing levels. These effects were also large in magnitude, the decline under placebo at week 12 being 19%, while the improvement under rivastigmine was 23%. The clinical relevance of this 23% improvement was that it took the patients 33% towards being normal for their age on this assessment of attention. These benefits to cognitive function were accompanied by a significant improvement of the other primary outcome measure, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Three weeks after discontinuation of rivastigmine, most parameters of cognitive performance returned to predrug levels.
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APA 7th
Wesnes, K. A., McKeith, I. G., Ferrara, R., Emre, M., Del Ser, T., Spano, P. F., et al. (2002). Effects of rivastigmine on cognitive function in dementia with lewy bodies: a randomised placebo-controlled international study using the cognitive drug research computerised assessment system. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders. https://doi.org/10.1159/000048651
Vancouver
Wesnes KA, McKeith IG, Ferrara R, Emre M, Del Ser T, Spano PF, et al. Effects of rivastigmine on cognitive function in dementia with lewy bodies: a randomised placebo-controlled international study using the cognitive drug research computerised assessment system. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders. 2002. doi:10.1159/000048651. PMID: 11893841.
BibTeX
@article{wesnes2002-11893841,
author = {Wesnes, K. A. and McKeith, I. G. and Ferrara, R. and Emre, M. and Del Ser, T. and Spano, P. F. and Cicin-Sain, A. and Anand, R. and others},
title = {{Effects of rivastigmine on cognitive function in dementia with lewy bodies: a randomised placebo-controlled international study using the cognitive drug research computerised assessment system}},
journal = {Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1159/000048651},
pmid = {11893841},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1159/000048651}
}
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Key findings
- Analysis of the data from the 92 patients who completed the study identified a significant pattern of benefits of rivastigmine over placebo on the CDR system.
- Taking attention for example, patients given placebo showed a significant deterioration from predosing scores at 12 and 20 weeks, whereas patients on rivastigmine performed significantly above their predosing levels.
- These benefits to cognitive function were accompanied by a significant improvement of the other primary outcome measure, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory.
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Study details
- Participants92
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 72/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomized controlled trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record and institution's track record, so those were left out: it earned 44 of the 61 points we could judge it on, which is 72 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomized controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized 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 | 2002 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 92 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 2 / 2 | Randomized and blinded or placebo-controlled (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | 2 / 3 | PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 11893841) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 44 / 61 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 44 of the 61 points we could judge it on is 72 out of 100. |
| Total | 72 / 100 | — |
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Also tagged “lewy-bodies”
7 studies in the library carry the topic tag “lewy-bodies”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 7 tagged studies.