[Patient-relevant end points in Alzheimer's disease]

The cognitive deficits typical of Alzheimer's disease and the resulting deficits in (instrumental) activities of daily living can be taken as patient- and clinically relevant end points. They are important features in the patient's global impairment and not merely surrogate parameters or points on a scale. Furthermore there are other functional end points, such as admission to a nursing home, caregiver burden or time spent for caregiving and quality of life, although this is difficult to assess at present. These latter end points are as yet less well defined than the former, in part because they are subject to the influence of numerous confounding factors. Concerning drug effects on cognition and competence in everyday life, there is a consistent and reliable efficacy of antidementive drug, which is of moderate magnitude.