Table 4.

Cognitive and functional status outcomes

First author and year	Comparison	Cognitive task	Change of scores from baseline to endpoint
Akhondzadeh, 2010 (14)	Saffron vs donepezil	ADAS-Cog CDRS-SB	NS difference in score change between two groups (t = 0.18, df = 52, p = 0.85) NS difference in score change between two groups (t = 0.21, df = 52, p = 0.83)
Akhondzadeh, 2010’ (15)	Saffron vs placebo	ADAS-Cog CDRS-SB	Significantly better score change in saffron group (t = 17.27, d.f = 44, p < 0.0001) Significantly better score change in saffron group (t = 12.06, d.f = 44, p < 0.0001)
Farokhnia, 2014 (16)	Saffron vs memantine	SCIRS MMSE FAST	NS difference in score change between two groups (t = 0.87, df = 66, p = 0.38) NS difference in score change between two groups (t = −1.07, df = 66, P = 0.28) NS difference in score change between two groups (t = −0.15, df = 66, p = 0.87)
Tsolaki, 2016 (18)	Saffron vs control	MoCA MMSE FRSSD	NS difference in score between two groups (p = 0.62) Sig. positive change in saffron group compared no treatment group (p =0.02) NS difference in score change between two groups (p = 0.67)
Moazen-Zadeh, 2018 (17)	Saffron vs placebo	WMS-R MMSE	NS difference in score change between two groups (t = −0.09, df = 43, p = 0.93) NS difference in score change between two groups (t= 0.39, df = 29.01, p = 0.69)

ADAS-Cog: AD assessment scale-cognitive subscale; CDRS-SB: Clinical Dementia Rating Scale- Sums of Boxes; SCIRS: Severe Cognitive Impairment Rating Scale; FAST: Functional Assessment Staging; WMS-R: Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised; MMSE: Mini Mental State Examination;;MoCA: Montreal Cognitive Assessment; NS: Non-significant; FRSSD: Functional Rating Scale of Symptoms of Dementia