Source: DGNews  |  Posted 8 years ago

By Bonnie Darves

HONOLULU, HA -- March 5, 2003 -- Patients with dementia who exhibit non-aggressive symptoms may also benefit from treatment with risperidone, according to a study presented here March 3rd at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

Although the efficacy of pharmacologic treatment in patients with aggressive symptoms is well documented, previous reports have suggested that non-aggressive symptoms are do not respond to treatment, the researchers said.

The 12-week randomised, double-blind trial led by Jacobo Mintzer, MD, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, United States, followed 617 patients, predominantly female and with a mean age of 82.7 years, who resided in long-term care facilities and had a confirmed diagnosis of dementia.

After a placebo wash-out period, the subjects received risperidone in doses ranging from 0.5 to 2 mg/day or placebo.

The researchers assessed patients using the Cohen Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) with a focus on non-aggression behaviours such as pacing, hiding or hoarding objects, inappropriate dress and repetitious mannerism. Patients were analysed at screening and baseline, at weeks 4, 8 and 12, and at end point using.

Mean CMAI non-aggressive scores were 38.0 at baseline.

Patients who received either 1 mg or 2mg daily of risperidone demonstrated a significant reduction in CMAI non-aggression scores between baseline and week 12, with a mean change of