Safety and tolerability of donepezil 23 mg with or without intermediate dose titration in patients with Alzheimer’s disease taking donepezil 10 mg: a multicenter randomized open-label parallel-design three-arm prospective trial

摘要

BackgroundHigh-dose donepezil is currently prescribed for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who showed poor or waning response to a lower dose at the risk of increasing cholinergic side effects. However, the adverse events (AEs) depending on the method of dose escalation have not been clarified yet. This study aimed to find out whether dose titration before escalating to donepezil 23 mg is preferred. We investigated safety and tolerability of donepezil 23 mg during the first 12 weeks of dose escalation in patients with moderate to severe AD.