Table 1.
Baseline characteristics and demographics of patients switching from rivastigmine capsules to rivastigmine patch (the IDEAL study; safety population [25]) and from donepezil tablets to rivastigmine patch (the SWAP study; safety population [32])
| IDEAL studya[25] Rivastigmine capsule (n = 294) | SWAP study [32] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Donepezil tablets to rivastigmine patch – immediate switch (n = 131) | Donepezil tablets to rivastigmine patch – delayed switch (n = 130) | ||
| Mean age (years) ± SD | 72.8 ± 8.2 | 77.8 ± 7.7 | 76.7 ± 8.4 |
| % Female | 65.6 | 60.3 | 55.4 |
| % Caucasian | 74.5 | 90.1 | 85.4 |
| Mean weight (kg) ± SD | – | 72.0 ± 13.2 | 72.8 ± 16.4 |
| Duration dementia (years) ± SD | 1.1 ± 1.4 | 4.0 ± 2.5 | 3.8 ± 2.7 |
| Duration donepezil treatment (months) ± SD | – | 30.2 ± 25.3 | 27.9 ± 20.2 |
| Mean baseline MMSE ± SD | 16.4 ± 3.1 | 18.6 ± 4.0 | 18.1 ± 4.0 |
aBaseline characteristics of patients given rivastigmine capsules, prior to commencement of the 24‐week double‐blind phase that preceded the open‐label phase in which they were switched to patch.