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Pharmacological Management of Lewy Body Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.


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Authors

Stinton, Chris 
McKeith, Ian 
Taylor, John-Paul 
Mioshi, Eneida 

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined research on effects, costs, and patient and caregiver views of pharmacological management strategies for Lewy body dementia. METHOD: Studies were identified through bibliographic databases, trials registers, gray literature, reference lists, and experts. The authors used the search terms "Lewy or parkinson" and "dementia" through March 2015 and used the following inclusion criteria: participants with diagnoses of Lewy body dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, or Parkinson's disease dementia (or participants' caregivers); investigation of pharmacological management strategies; outcome measures and test scores reported. Data extraction and quality assessment were conducted by at least two authors. Meta-analyses were conducted, and when studies could not be combined, summaries were provided. RESULTS: Forty-four studies examining 22 strategies were included in the review. Meta-analysis indicated beneficial effects of donepezil and rivastigmine for cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. Rivastigmine, but not donepezil, was associated with greater risk of adverse events. Meta-analysis of memantine suggested that it is well tolerated but with few benefits. Descriptive summaries provide some evidence of benefits for galantamine, modafinil, levodopa, rotigotine, clozapine, duloxetine, clonazepam, ramelteon, gabapentin, zonisamide, and yokukansan. Piracetam, amantadine, selegiline, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and citalopram do not appear to be effective. CONCLUSIONS: High-level evidence related to pharmacological strategies for managing Lewy body dementia is rare. Strategies for important areas of need in Lewy body dementia, such as autonomic symptoms and caregiver burden, have not been investigated, nor have the views of patients and caregivers about pharmacological strategies.

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Keywords

Antidepressive Agents, Antipsychotic Agents, Attitude to Health, Caregivers, Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists, Humans, Lewy Body Disease, Neuroprotective Agents, Nootropic Agents, Treatment Outcome

Journal Title

Am J Psychiatry

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0002-953X
1535-7228

Volume Title

172

Publisher

American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Sponsorship
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (via Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) (DTC-RP-PG-0311-12001)
Supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research program (DTC-RP-PG-0311-12001); the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Dementia and the Biomedical Research Centre awarded to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge; and the NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Lewy Body Dementia and Biomedical Research Centre awarded to Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University.