Anticholinergic drugs and risk of dementia: case-control study

Richardson, Kathryn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0741-8413, Fox, Chris ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9480-5704, Maidment, Ian, Steel, Nicholas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1528-140X, Loke, Yoon K, Arthur, Antony, Myint, Phyo K, Grossi, Carlota M, Mattishent, Katharina, Bennett, Kathleen, Campbell, Noll L, Boustani, Malaz, Robinson, Louise, Brayne, Carol, Matthews, Fiona E and Savva, George M (2018) Anticholinergic drugs and risk of dementia: case-control study. British Medical Journal, 361. ISSN 0959-8138

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Abstract

Objectives: To estimate the association between the duration and level of exposure to different classes of anticholinergic drugs and subsequent incident dementia. Design: Case-control study. Setting: General practices in the UK contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Participants: 40 770 patients aged 65-99 with a diagnosis of dementia between April 2006 and July 2015, and 283 933 controls without dementia. Interventions: Daily defined doses of anticholinergic drugs coded using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale, in total and grouped by subclass, prescribed 4-20 years before a diagnosis of dementia. Main outcome measures: Odds ratios for incident dementia, adjusted for a range of demographic and health related covariates. Results: 14 453 (35%) cases and 86 403 (30%) controls were prescribed at least one anticholinergic drug with an ACB score of 3 (definite anticholinergic activity) during the exposure period. The adjusted odds ratio for any anticholinergic drug with an ACB score of 3 was 1.11 (95% confidence interval 1.08 to 1.14). Dementia was associated with an increasing average ACB score. When considered by drug class, gastrointestinal drugs with an ACB score of 3 were not distinctively linked to dementia. The risk of dementia increased with greater exposure for antidepressant, urological, and antiparkinson drugs with an ACB score of 3. This result was also observed for exposure 15-20 years before a diagnosis. Conclusions: A robust association between some classes of anticholinergic drugs and future dementia incidence was observed. This could be caused by a class specific effect, or by drugs being used for very early symptoms of dementia. Future research should examine anticholinergic drug classes as opposed to anticholinergic effects intrinsically or summing scales for anticholinergic exposure.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Promotion Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Mental Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Services and Primary Care Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health in Later Life (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Institute for Volunteering Research Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Population Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health
Related URLs:	https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k131...
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	26 Apr 2018 14:31
Last Modified:	06 Jun 2024 15:01
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66843
DOI:	10.1136/bmj.k1315

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