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Improving clinical descriptions to understand the effects of dementia treatment: consensus recommendations
Kenneth Rockwood1, Christine Joffres,
1Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Kenneth.Rockwood@dal.ca
Objectives:
To recommend how the description of clinically detectable treatment effects might be improved for antidementia drug trials.
Method:
Consensus conference, with review of available evidence.
Results:
We suggest widespread, systematic, qualitative studies, based on prospective observations such as the clinicians' narrative descriptions of patient's changes used in the Clinician's Interview-Based Impressions of Change (CIBIC-Plus), plus caregiver input. The identification of patient and caregiver expectations, and an understanding of how these expectations are met, are proposed as priorities for future study.
Conclusion:
Better descriptions of treatment effects can enhance our understanding of both clinical meaningfulness and cholinergic function in the brain.