Hafdi 2020.

Study characteristics
Methods	Design: retrospective cohort Setting: community Country: Netherlands Duration of follow‐up (mean): 6.7 years Covariates controlled for: age, sex, history of cardiovascular disease or stroke (or both), education, MMSE at baseline, and Geriatric Depression Scale at baseline
Participants	Participants numbers: 3526 Population type: older adults Sex: 54% women (1919) Age (mean): 74 years
Prognostic factors	Anticholinergic burden measurement method: ACB scale
Outcomes	Outcomes assessed: dementia Outcome ascertainment dementia: consensus diagnosis based on multidisciplinary evaluation Diagnostic criteria dementia: DSM‐IV
Source of funding	Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport; the Dutch Innovation Fund of Collaborative Health Insurances; and the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development
Notes
Item	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Study participation	Yes	Reported age, sex, and comorbidities. Minor issue with slightly restricted age population.
Study attrition	Unclear	No comparison between completers vs non‐completers/missing data.
Prognostic factor measurement	Unclear	2 methods (self‐report cross‐checked with electronic records). Repeated measurement at 2 years – though only once and this study ran for 8 years; no mention of whether anticholinergic scores changed and lack of detail on the question so could not be certain if asked about non‐prescribed drugs. No measure of adherence or dosage. On basis of these issues assigned unclear risk of bias.
Outcome measurement	Unclear	No blinding but anticholinergic burden assignment conducted after cognitive diagnosis established.
Study confounding	Yes	Age, sex, and comorbidities all measured.
Reverse causation	Unclear	Anticholinergic burden measurement taken 2 years before dementia assessment and excluded those who developed dementia in first 2 years after taking anticholinergics.
Statistical analysis and reporting	Unclear	No protocol or assumptions.