Journal de l'alcoolisme et de la toxicomanie
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Screening for Misuse of Approved Antidementives in the Elderly Non-Demented Hospital Population

Johanna Cristina Coßmann and Udo Bonnet

Objective: To screen for misuse of approved antidementives (ADD) in an elderly non-demented population because of lack of information on this subject. Methods and Results: In a German general hospital, 671 in-patients of ≥ 65 years of age were randomly visited to be examined as to current and past abuse of and dependence on ADD using a personal interview (SKID-I) based on DSM-IV-TR. Among them, 400 (75 ± 6.4 years; 63% females) agreed with participation in this cross-sectional study. The addiction section of SKID-I had been expanded to the ADD rivastigmine, donezepil, galantamine and memantine. Accordingly, there was no person abusing or being dependent on any ADD in question, neither in the past nor currently. Discussion: One third of the cohort did not agree with participation in the study, which bears the risk of an underestimation of ADD being misused. Conclusion: A misuse of ADD in the elderly non-demented hospital population could not be identified what did not support a potential addiction potential of these drugs.