The Journal of clinical psychiatry
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Memantine for agitation/aggression and psychosis in moderately severe to severe Alzheimer's disease: a pooled analysis of 3 studies.
Long-standing evidence indicates that Alzheimer's disease patients with behavioral symptoms have a worse prognosis and a more rapid disease progression. The current retrospective analysis evaluated the efficacy and safety of memantine in a subpopulation of patients with Alzheimer's disease exhibiting behavioral symptoms of agitation/aggression or psychosis at baseline. ⋯ This post hoc analysis provides important evidence from placebo-controlled trials that memantine may be a safe and effective treatment in Alzheimer's disease patients with agitation/aggression or psychosis, who are otherwise prone to rapid progression. Memantine treatment provided benefits in cognitive, functional, and global outcomes in these patients and for their agitation/aggression.