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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: JAMA Neurol. 2016 Jun 1;73(6):721–732. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2016.0580

Figure 4. Effect of Anticholinergic (AC) Medication Use on Clinical Conversion.

Figure 4

A, A significant association between AC use and future progression of Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative participants to mild cognitive impairment and/or Alzheimer disease was observed (P = .01; hazard ratio [HR], 2.47; with total number of medications, cardiac surgery, total number of comorbid conditions, and other psychiatric conditions as additional covariates).

B, When evaluating the interaction between AC use and Aβ positivity, we found that participants taking 1 or more medications with medium or high AC activity who are positive for Aβ on florbetapir F-18–positron emission tomographic (PET) scans or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples (referred to as AC+ and Aβ+ participants) showed a higher risk of conversion relative to participants not taking these medications who are negative for Aβ on florbetapir F-18–PET scans or CSF samples (referred to as AC and Aβ participants) (P < .001; HR, 7.73; with cardiac surgery and other psychiatric conditions as additional covariates) and participants who are positive for either AC use or Aβ (P = .001; HR, 4.24).