Anticonvulsants in the Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Systematic reviewThe American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry· Oct 2024

Anticonvulsants in the Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Sophiya Benjamin, Joanne Man-Wai Ho, Jennifer Tung … John W Williams

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Geriatric PsychiatrySystematic reviewTreatmentQ1IF 2.6

Anticonvulsants show little benefit for behavioral symptoms of dementia, evidence quality low

Anticonvulsants in the Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Sophiya Benjamin … John W Williams

The American journal of geriatric psychiatry · Oct 2024 · Q1 in Psychiatry

Purpose

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia) are common and impart a significant burden to patients, caregivers, and the health system.

Methods

We searched five electronic databases through January 2023, for randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews evaluating the efficacy of non-benzodiazepine anticonvulsants for the treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

n = 248 individuals

Results

side effects were far more common with carbamazepine than placebo

effect size 1.13 (95% CI 0.54 to 1.73)

null 0

0.54

1.73

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

We identified 12 studies, including randomized controlled trials (randomized controlled trials) and 1 systematic review.

Five randomized controlled trials evaluating valproic acid were synthesized by a recent Cochrane review which concluded that this drug is likely ineffective for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

More results

We extracted data from 6 trials involving 248 individuals comparing non-benzodiazepine anticonvulsants to either placebo or risperidone.

“

Conclusion

Anticonvulsants are unlikely to be effective in behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, although the quality of existing evidence is low.

Anticonvulsants in the Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Anticonvulsants in the Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia: A Systematic Review.

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