Selegiline in the treatment of behavioural disturbance in Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the behavioural and cognitive effects of selegiline in a group of moderately behaviourally disturbed AD patients. This was a 14-week randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study of selegiline (10 mg) and placebo. An outpatient clinic in an urban-based tertiary referral centre in the USA. Twenty-five outpatients meeting NINCDS criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease with associated behavioural disturbance. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Dementia Mood Assessment Scale (DMAS) and the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale (Cognitive) (ADAS-COG). In the primary analysis, improvement on the BPRS and DMAS scores with selegeline treatment did not. reach statistical significance. A secondary analysis using a parallel design showed a significant benefit of drug treatment on BPRS scores with a trend towards improvement on the DMAS. Among the 10 subjects who could be tested, there was a significant improvement in cognitive function on the ADAS-COG with selegiline compared to placebo. Short-term selegiline treatment produced an improvement in behaviour and had a significant effect on cognition in a subset of testable patients.