Table 4.

Background data on the use of medications with CNS effects and significance of the differences between users of these drugs and non-users at baseline

Background variable	Users (n = 24)	Non-users (n = 28)	p value
Age, years	77.8 ± 6.6	74.4 ± 7.5	0.114*
Number of all medications	5.4 ± 3.2	2.1 ± 2.1	< 0.001*
Number of regularly taken medications	4.2 ± 2.4	1.7 ± 1.6	< 0.001*
Number of medications taken as needed	1.2 ± 1.4	0.4 ± 0.7	0.016*
Number of all medications excluding CNS medications	3.9 ± 2.9	2.1 ± 2.1	0.021*
Number of regularly taken medications excluding CNS medications	3.1 ± 2.2	1.7 ± 1.6	0.017*
Number of medications taken as needed excluding CNS medications	0.8 ± 1.2	0.4 ± 0.7	0.262*
Females	5 (21)	10 (36)	0.238**
Marital status
Married	4 (17)	5 (18)
Unmarried or divorced	8 (33)	15 (54)	0.250**
Widowed	12 (50)	8 (29)
Place of living
At home alone	7 (29)	8 (29)
At home with other person	13 (54)	20 (71)	0.077**
In institution or nursing home	4 (17)	0 (0)
Education
Less than basic	7 (29)	8 (29)
Basic	8 (67)	20 (71)	0.870**
More than basic	1 (4)	0 (0)
Ability to walk
Independently	15 (65)	24 (86)
With assistive device	6 (26)	4 (14)	0.119**
With help of another person	2 (9)	0 (0)
Diagnosed diseases
Depression	5 (21)	1 (4)	0.084**
Alcohol-related disease	0 (0)	1 (4)	1.000**
Hypertension	10 (42)	10 (36)	0.660**
Hypercholesterolemia	0 (0)	3 (11)	0.240**
Diabetes mellitus (type I or II)	5 (21)	2 (7)	0.227**
TIA	4 (17)	2 (7)	0.397**
Cerebral infarct	1 (4)	0 (0)	0.462**
Cerebral hemorrhage	1 (4)	0 (0)	0.462**
Cerebral trauma	0 (0)	1 (4)	1.000**
Malignant tumor or cancer	1 (4)	0 (0)	0.462**
HIV, lues or borreliosis	0 (0)	0 (0)	1.000**
Dementia (all types)	1 (4)	0 (0)	0.462**

Values denote means ± SD or numbers with percentages in parentheses.

^*Mann-Whitney U test.

^**χ² test or Fisher's exact test.

TIA = Transient ischemic attack.