Potential to assess role in Alzheimer’s disease
Abstract
Objective: To examine the efficacy of gabapentin
for the treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Design: A
retrospective chart review. Settings: Tertiary care
geriatric psychiatry inpatient unit. Participants:
230 patients with BPSD. Measurements: The
socio-demographic information, type of behaviors, co-morbid psychiatric and medical diagnoses, daily doses of medications and side-effects were recorded. Results: Of the 230 patients,
22 were treated with gabapentin. Twenty of these
patients were on a combination of gabapentin
and an antipsychotic medication while two patients were treated with gabapentin monotherapy. Eighteen of the 20 patients in the combination group tolerated the treatments with little or
no side effects as did the two patients in the
monotherapy group. Conclusions: Gabapentin
may be a safe option for the treatment of BPSD
in combination with antipsychotic medications.
Gabapentin may also be effective as monotherapy in certain patients with BPSD.