Efficacy of donepezil hydrochloride for patients with mild Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of donepezil hydrochloride tablets in the treatment of mild Alzheimer's disease(AD) patients with clinical effect. Methods Ninety two patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) were enrolled from March 2013 to March 2015. Patients were randomly assigned in two groups with 46 cases in each: patients in study group were treated with donepezil hydrochloride tablets (4 mg, q. n) and patients in control group were treated with piracetam tablets (1.2 mg t. i.d). The Mini Mental State Scale (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA), the Alzheimer's disease assessment component table Perception Scale (ADAS COG), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) were applied for evaluation of cognitive, activity ability and mental state before and after treatment. Results Before treatment, there were no significant differences in MMSE, MoCA, ADAS-cog, HAMA and HAMD scores between study and control groups (all P>0.05). The MMSE, MoCA scores after treatment in study group were higher than those in control group [24.80±1.15 vs. 23.75±1.20(t=4.285, P=0.000) and 23.30±0.55 vs. 22.41±0.64(t=7.153, P=0.000)]; the ADAS-cog score in study group was lower than that in control group (26.0±1.7 vs. 27.6±1.5, t=2.884, P=0.035). There were no significant differences in HAMA, HAMD scores between two groups (7.1±1.9 vs. 7.4±1.7 and 6.6±2.0 vs. 7.1±2.2, all P>0.05]. After treatment, the visual-spatial ability to execute in study group was 3.81±0.65, pay attention to the ability was (4.30±0.66) points and delayed recall score was 3.20±0.35, which were significantly higher than those in control group (3.42±0.66, 3.78±0.69 and 2.85±0.34; t=2.864, P=0.036; t=3.900, P=0.000; t=2.991, P=0.032). Mild adverse reactions were observed in 4 cases of study group and 2 cases of control group, all patients had spontaneous remission. Conclusions Donepezil hydrochloride tablets is effective in treatment of patients with mild AD with low incidence of adverse reactions. Key words: Alzheimer disease; Donepezil hydrochloride tablets; Drug therapy