Activities of Daily Living in Moderate-to-Severe Alzheimer Disease: An Analysis of the Treatment Effects of Memantine in Patients Receiving Stable Donepezil Treatment

In moderate-to-severe Alzheimer disease (AD), there are significant losses of activities of daily living (ADL). In a recent prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, memantine treatment lessened the overall functional decline in AD patients already on stable donepezil therapy. In this trial, patients (n=404) with Mini-Mental State Examination scores of 5 to 14 receiving stable donepezil treatment were randomized to double-blind treatment with memantine (10 mg b.i.d.; n=203) or placebo (n=201). A primary outcome measure was the 19-item Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living Inventory (ADCS-ADL19). To further evaluate the treatment effects of memantine on function, we performed post hoc analyses of ADCS-ADL19 data from this trial, including ADL items and new subscales derived from factor analysis. Using mixed model analyses, patients receiving…

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