Question:
For adults with Alzheimer’s Disease, how effective is Donezepil compared with other medications or no medication, in improving all patient outcomes?
Answer:
Evidence from a systematic review, which included ten relevant
randomised controlled trials, indicated that donezepil may have a
small benefit for slowing decline in cognition, function, behaviour
and clinical global change in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Both 5 mg/d and 10 mg/d doses appeared to be effective in patients
with mild to moderate disease, however, evidence of effectiveness
was restricted to the 10 mg/d dose in people with severe disease.
The 10 mg/d dose, but not the 5 mg/d dose of donezepil, was
associated with increased rates of adverse events and
withdrawals.
All evidence was derived from placebo controlled trials; there
were no studies providing direct comparisons of effectiveness
between drugs. High quality studies comparing the effectiveness of
different cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine are needed, as
well as studies further investigating how effectiveness varies with
disease severity.
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