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Memantine for dementia
McShane R, Westby MJ, Roberts E, Minakaran N, Schneider L, Farrimond LE, Maayan N, Ware J et al.. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2019-03-20
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Memantine is a moderate affinity uncompetitive antagonist of glutamate NMDA receptors. It is licensed for use in moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease (AD); in the USA, it is also widely used off-label for mild AD. Objectives To determine efficacy and safety of memantine for people with dementia.
Key findings
- It is licensed for use in moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease (AD); in the USA, it is also widely used off-label for mild AD.
- Objectives To determine efficacy and safety of memantine for people with dementia.
- To assess whether memantine adds benefit for people already taking cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs).
- Search methods We searched ALOIS, the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group's register of trials (http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/alois/) up to 25 March 2018.
Why it matters
This review examined the efficacy and safety of memantine for people with dementia, including whether it adds benefit for those already taking cholinesterase inhibitors. Memantine is licensed for moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease and is also widely used off-label for mild Alzheimer's disease in the USA.
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Study details
- Study designpost-hoc analysis
- Participants10,000
- Effect sizeRR 0.81 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.99); RR 2.12; RR 1.05 (95% CI 0.83 to 1.34)
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 80/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The Cochrane database of systematic reviews) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: journal h-index 468 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A meta-analysis pooling many studies (from PubMed type “Meta-Analysis”) |
| 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 | 2019 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 4 / 4 | 10,000 participants |
| Effect reported | 3 / 3 | Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 307 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 34.1 citations a year over 9 year(s) since 2019 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 23.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 18 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 121 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Jean Debarros: h-index 8 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Oxford: institution h-index 2,205 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 10 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 30891742) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 80 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd003154.pub6
- PubMed: 30891742
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
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. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
McShane, R., Westby, M. J., Roberts, E., Minakaran, N., Schneider, L., Farrimond, L. E., et al. (2019). Memantine for dementia. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd003154.pub6
Vancouver
McShane R, Westby MJ, Roberts E, Minakaran N, Schneider L, Farrimond LE, et al. Memantine for dementia. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. 2019. doi:10.1002/14651858.cd003154.pub6. PMID: 30891742.
BibTeX
@article{mcshane2019-30891742,
author = {McShane, R. and Westby, M. J. and Roberts, E. and Minakaran, N. and Schneider, L. and Farrimond, L. E. and Maayan, N. and Ware, J. and others},
title = {{Memantine for dementia}},
journal = {The Cochrane database of systematic reviews},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1002/14651858.cd003154.pub6},
pmid = {30891742},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd003154.pub6}
}
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