Overactive bladder anticholinergics and risk of incident dementia: a cohort study design using a triangulation approach

Study identification

• PURI:
  https://redirect.ema.europa.eu/resource/43448
• EU PAS number:
  EUPAS43447
• Study ID:
  43448
• Official title and acronym:
  Overactive bladder anticholinergics and risk of incident dementia: a cohort study design using a triangulation approach
• DARWIN EU® study:
  No
• Study countries:
  United Kingdom
• Study description:
  Overactive bladder is increasingly common as people age and can severely affect quality of life. It is often treated with medications called ‘anticholinergics’ or ‘antimuscarinics’, but some studies have associated these with memory problems and a higher risk dementia if used for a long time. However, we don’t know whether these medications actually cause this increased risk or are simply used more often in people already at risk of dementia. We also don’t know how the risk varies among different patient groups or types of anticholinergics. Data from medical records are increasingly used for dementia research, but there are challenges in their use. Dementia diagnoses can be delayed, not made at all, or not promptly communicated across healthcare services, so this needs careful analysis. We will analyse the general practitioner (GP) and hospital records of >700,000 patients aged ≥50 years in England prescribed bladder anticholinergics. We will examine whether, all other factors being equal, patients taking long-term bladder anticholinergics develop dementia more often than patients with only a single prescription. We will then estimate how this risk varies by duration of treatment, for specific patient groups, and for specific bladder drugs. As we also don’t fully understand how these medications affect the brain, we will also examine whether delirium or fractures are more common with longer term use of bladder anticholinergics.
• Study status:
  Ongoing

Research institutions and networks

Institutions

University of East Anglia

Study timelines

Date when funding contract was signed

Planned: 04/01/2019

Actual: 04/01/2019

Study start date

Planned: 14/01/2021

Actual: 14/01/2021

Data analysis start date

Planned: 04/10/2021

Date of final study report

Planned: 17/08/2023

Sources of funding

Non-for-profit organisation (e.g. charity)

More details on funding

Alzheimer's Society

Regulatory

• Was the study required by a regulatory body?:
  No
• Is the study required by a Risk Management Plan (RMP)?:
  Not applicable