ArticleBMC geriatrics2019
Anticholinergic and benzodiazepine medication use and risk of incident dementia: a UK cohort study.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Use of Drugs Affecting GABAMolecular neurobiology · 2025Pooled it
- Anticholinergic burden (prognostic factor) for prediction of dementia or cognitive decline in older adults with no known cognitive syndrome.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Anticholinergic drugs and incident dementia, mild cognitive impairment and cognitive decline: a meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2020Pooled it
- Exposome influences: a multi-omics perspective on the combined toxic effects of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in Alzheimer's disease.Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Review
- CALS and ACB Scales are Associated with Physical and Cognitive Impairment and Predict Mortality in Nursing Home Residents.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2025Article
- Medication Exposure and Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Review
- Benzodiazepine use and risk of incident MCI and dementia in a community sample.International psychogeriatrics · 2024Article
- Influence of daily life and health profile in subtle cognitive decline of women residing in Spanish religious communities: DeCo religious orders study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Observational
- Benzodiazepine Use and the Risk of Dementia in the Elderly Population: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Review
- Anticholinergic exposure and its association with dementia/Alzheimer's disease and mortality in older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Use of Benzodiazepines and Risk of Incident Dementia: A Retrospective Cohort Study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2022Article
- CRIDECO Anticholinergic Load Scale: An Updated Anticholinergic Burden Scale. Comparison with the ACB Scale in Spanish Individuals with Subjective Memory Complaints.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Article
- Current practice in benzodiazepine receptor agonists deprescribing on acute geriatric wards: a cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Anticholinergic Burden, Polypharmacy, and Cognition in Parkinson's Disease Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders · 2022Observational
- Emotional and Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Alzheimer's Disease.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2022Review
- Treatment of bladder dysfunction with solifenacin: is there a risk of dementia or cognitive impairment?Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2022Review
- Lack of direct involvement of a diazepam long-term treatment in the occurrence of irreversible cognitive impairment: a pre-clinical approach.Translational psychiatry · 2021Article
- The cognitive effect of anticholinergics for patients with overactive bladder.Nature reviews. Urology · 2021Review
- Pharmacists' Knowledge of Factors Associated with Dementia: The A-to-Z Dementia Knowledge List.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStudies suggest that anticholinergic medication or benzodiazepine use could increase dementia risk. We tested this hypothesis using data from a UK cohort study.
methodsWe used data from the baseline (Y0), 2-year (Y2) and 10-year (Y10) waves of the Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study. Participants without dementia at Y2 were included (n = 8216). Use of benzodiazepines (including nonbenzodiazepine Z-drugs), anticholinergics with score 3 (ACB3) and anticholinergics with score 1 or 2 (ACB12) according to the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden scale were coded as ever use (use at Y0 or Y2), recurrent use (Y0 and Y2), new use (Y2, but not Y0) or discontinued use (Y0, but not Y2). The outcome was incident dementia by Y10. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were estimated using Poisson regression adjusted for potential confounders. Pre-planned subgroup analyses were conducted by age, sex and Y2 Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score.
resultsDementia incidence was 9.3% (N = 220 cases) between Y2 and Y10. The adjusted IRRs (95%CI) of developing dementia were 1.06 (0.72, 1.60), 1.28 (0.82, 2.00) and 0.89 (0.68, 1.17) for benzodiazepines, ACB3 and ACB12 ever-users compared with non-users. For recurrent users the respective IRRs were 1.30 (0.79, 2.14), 1.68 (1.00, 2.82) and 0.95 (0.71, 1.28). ACB3 ever-use was associated with dementia among those with Y2 MMSE> 25 (IRR = 2.28 [1.32-3.92]), but not if Y2 MMSE≤25 (IRR = 0.94 [0.51-1.73]).
conclusionsNeither benzodiazepines nor ACB12 medications were associated with dementia. Recurrent use of ACB3 anticholinergics was associated with dementia, particularly in those with good baseline cognitive function. The long-term prescribing of anticholinergics should be avoided in older people.
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