Estudio observacional naturalistico sobre la efectividad del tratamiento farmacológico en una cohorte de pacientes con demencia tipo Alzheimer

Abstract

Introduction: Naturalistic studies in clinical practice present great utility to guide the decision making and allow to corroborate the experimental findings of clinical trials. In Argentine, there are not published data of this type of studies in Alzheimer's Disease (DTA) with cholinesterase inhibitors. Objective: To evaluate effectiveness of treatment with donepezil patients with DTA mild degree in clinical practice. Materials and methods: Observational study, not controlled and longitudinal of 24 weeks of follow up in the Laboratory of Memory of the Zubizarreta Hospital. Were selected patients treated with donepezil with diagnosis of probable or possible mild DTA according to DSM IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. The global, cognitive and behavioural domains were evaluated and Caregiver Burden. Results: Were selected for the analysis 38 patients whose completed the follow up, They were 63,15% (n=24) probable DTA and 36,84% (n=14) DTA with vascular component. At the end of the follow up a significant change in memory, visuespacial skills and language was demonstrated. Significance in global, behavioural and Caregiver Burden was not demonstrated nor activities of daily life. A 10% presented improvement of 2 points in MMSE (50% stayed stable, 39% deteriorated) to the 6 months. The parkinsonism risk was duplicated at the end of the study. Conclusion: In this work, a smaller group of patients with mild DTA responded favorably to donepezil in cognitive domain.Half of the patients stayed stable in their MMSE.