Revisiting global cognitive and functional state 13 years after a clinical trial of lithium for mild cognitive impairment.
REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE PSIQUIATRIA (SAO PAULO, BRAZIL : 1999) 2023;
45:46-49. [PMID:
36049127 PMCID:
PMC9976922 DOI:
10.47626/1516-4446-2022-2767]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
To re-evaluate a sample of older adults enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of lithium for amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) after 11 to 15 years, re-assessing their current (or last available) global cognitive and functional state.
METHODS
We recalled all former participants of the Lithium-MCI trial conducted by our group between 2009 and 2012 to perform a single-blinded, cross-sectional evaluation of their global clinical state to compare the long-term outcome of those who received lithium vs. those who received placebo.
RESULTS
Of the original sample (n=61), we were able to reach 36 participants (59% of retention), of whom 22 had previously received lithium (61% of the recall sample) and 14 (39%) had received placebo. Since 30.5% of the recalled sample was deceased, psychometric data were collected only for 69.5% of the participants. We found statistically significant differences in current mean Mini Mental State Examination score according to previous treatment group (25.5 [SD, 5.3] vs. 18.3 [SD, 10.9], p = 0.04). The lithium group also had better performance in the phonemic Verbal Fluency Test than the control group (34.4 [SD, 14.4] vs. 11.6 [SD, 10.10], p < 0.001). Differences in these measures also had large effect sizes, as shown by Cohen's d values of 0.92 and 1.78, respectively.
CONCLUSION
This data set suggests that older adults with amnestic MCI who had been treated with lithium during a previous randomized controlled trial had a better long-term global cognitive outcome than those from a matched sample who did not receive the intervention.
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