Davis 1982.
Methods | Design:
Double‐blind
randomized
placebo controlled
crossover study Two to 4 days generally separated each infusion (occurred at the same time of day) |
|
Participants | Country: USA Number: 10 patients Sex: 8 males; 2 females Age: 50‐68 years Severity of AD: moderate Patients with at least 1‐year history of progressive memory loss Diagnosis criteria: Clinical history, physical examination, CAT scan, brain skull films, CSF analysis and serum analysis (for excluding other conditions). Not clear if all patients had such radiologic and laboratory examinations. MIT < =10 DRS > =4 | |
Interventions | 1. placebo 2. physostigmine i.v.optimal dose ( 0.125, 0.25 or 0.5mg dissolved in 100cc of normal saline at a constant rate over 30 min.)+2.5mg Probanthine, a cholinergic antagonist that does not cross the blood‐brain barrier, i.v. 5 min before every infusion to minimize physostigmine's peripheral effects. | |
Outcomes | Famous faces test (retrieval from remote memory) Digit span test Word or picture recognition test (recognition memory test) | |
Notes | Optimal dose found in a prior dose finding phase. All patients were free of psychoactive medications for at least two weeks prior to physostigmine. Results were subjected to a technique (signal detectability analysis) which suggested that new items were more discriminable following physostigmine, and that patient's criteria for saying that they recognized an item also changed with physostigmine infusion. | |
Risk of bias | ||
Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
Allocation concealment? | Unclear risk | B ‐ Unclear |