Question:
For people with Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia or Lewy Body dementia, how effective is Memantine compared with other medication, treatment as usual or no treatment, in reducing problematic behaviour?
Answer:
Plain language
summary
There is no high quality research evidence to suggest that
Memantine is any more effective than any other treatment or
intervention in reducing problematic behaviour in people with
Alzheimer's disease or Dementia.
Clinical and
research implications
Evidence from one moderate quality randomised trial showed that
memantine with donepezil significantly improved behaviour after 24
weeks of treatment. However, three trials found no evidence that
memantine monotherapy was more effective than placebo in
behavioural or cognitive outcomes. This finding is consistent with
the NICE guideline recommendation which did not find a
statistically significant benefit for memantine on behavioural
outcomes measured by the NPI and BGP. It is also consistent with
the Scottish Medicines Consortium guidance which stated that there
was insufficient evidence to recommend the use of memantine in
people with dementia.
More randomised, placebo-controlled trials of patients with
Alzheimer's disease in outpatient settings which measure behaviour
are needed.
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For related NICE and SIGN guidelines, follow the links
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