Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of users and non-users of medicines with anticholinergic or sedative properties
| Baseline characteristics | Total (n=2087) |
Use of anticholinergics (n=383, 18.3%) |
Use of sedatives (n=235, 11.3%) | Use of anticholinergics and sedatives (n=336, 16.1%) | Non-users (n=1133, 54.3%) |
P value |
| Age, mean (SD), years | 78.2 (6.7) | 80.3 (6.6) | 79.1 (6.1) | 78.5 (6.9) | 77.2 (6.6) | <0.001 |
| Sex (male), n (%) |
1056 (50.5) | 235 (61.36) | 109 (46.4) | 128 (38.1) | 584 (51.5) | <0.001 |
| Body mass index, mean (SD), kg/m2 | 26.1 (4.1) | 26.2 (4.3) | 26.2 (3.7) | 26.1 (4.4) | 26.0 (4) | 0.852 |
| Community living, n (%) | 1961 (93.9) | 356 (93) | 222 (94.5) | 293 (87.2) | 1090 (96.2) | <0.001 |
| Current smoker, n (%) | 176 (8.4) | 24 (6.3) | 23 (9.8) | 34 (10.2) | 95 (8.4) | 0.441 |
| MMSE score, mean (SD) | 26.9 (4.2) | 26.4 (4.5) | 26.5 (4.7) | 26.4 (4.8) | 27.2 (3.7) | <0.001 |
| Presence of cognitive impairment, n (%)* |
325 (15.6) | 70 (18.3) | 39 (16.6) | 63 (18.8) | 153 (13.5) | 0.035 |
| CES-D score, mean (SD) | 8.2 (7.4) | 9.1 (7.5) | 9.7 (7.4) | 11.7 (8.7) | 6.6 (6.5) | <0.001 |
| Presence of depressive symptoms, n (%)† |
295 (14.1) | 63 (16.5) | 36 (15.3) | 87 (25.9) | 109 (9.6) | <0.001 |
| Functional comorbidity index, mean (SD) | 2.2 (1.6) | 2.9 (1.7) | 2.2 (1.5) | 2.9 (1.7) | 1.7 (1.4) | <0.001 |
*Presence of cognitive impairment was defined as MMSE score of less than 24.
†Presence of depressive symptoms was defined as CES-D score of 16 or more.
CES-D, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination.