Key result
Anticholinergic agents linked to increased risk of dementia, cognitive impairment, and mortality in older adults.
Why the study?
Anticholinergic agents have grown linked to peripheral and central effects, including dementia and death in older people, motivating a review of the evidence.
Does anticholinergic agent use increase the risk of dementia and mortality in older adults?
Does anticholinergic agent use increase the risk of dementia and mortality in older adults?
Highlights the necessity to minimize anticholinergic burden in older adults to reduce the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, and mortality.
May warrant caution with anticholinergics in older adults; hypothesis-generating pending confirmatory trials.
The evidence for the risks associated with anticholinergic agents has grown considerably in the last two decades. Not only are they associated with causing peripheral side effects such as dry mouth, blurred vision and constipation, but they can also cause central effects such as cognitive impairment; and more recently, they have consistently been linked with an increased risk of dementia and death in older people. This paper reviews the evidence for the associations of anticholinergic agents and the risk of dementia and increased mortality in dementia.
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Delia Bishara (2023) conducted a review in Older adults and patients with dementia. Anticholinergic agents was evaluated. Anticholinergic agents are associated with an increased risk of dementia, cognitive impairment, and mortality in older adults and patients with pre-existing dementia.
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