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Cholinesterase-inhibiting drugs improve cognitive outcomes in patients with Alzheimer disease. These investigators tested their usefulness for reducing agitation as well. They randomized 272 community– or nursing-home–dwelling subjects with AD, who had not responded to behavioral therapy, to receive donepezil or placebo for 12 weeks. Standard measures were used for behavioral assessments. Subjects taking psychotropic medications were allowed to participate.
No benefit of donepezil was seen, whether the data were analyzed by scores on individual behavioral tests or by assessing the number of subjects who had improved by 30%. Similarly, no benefits were seen when donepezil was added to psychotropic regimens.