Direct and indirect risk associated with the use of dietary supplements among persons with dementia in a Norwegian memory clinic

Table 2 Characteristics of adults with dementia receiving assistance with dietary supplements or prescription drugs

	Assistance with DS		No assistance with DS			Assistance with PD		No assistance with PD
Numbers of persons with dementia	n = 26		n = 44		p-value	n = 106**		n = 39**		p-value
Age, year (mean (±SD))	76.8	(8.1)	70.3	(12.1)	0.017	74.5	(10.9)	70.4	(8.9)	0.040
Women (n (%))	16.0	(61.5)	33.0	(75.0)	0.235	65.0	(61.3)	27.0	(69.2)	0.380
Living alone (n (%))	3.0	(11.5)	20.0	(45.5)	0.004	35.0	(33.0)	10.0	(25.6)	0.394
Home care services (n (%))	14.0	(53.8)	17.0	(38.6)	0.216	64.0	(60.4)	0.0	-	<0.001
Numbers of PD (mean (±SD))	5.5	(2.9)	4.3	(3.7)	0.161	5.4	(2.9)	3.0	(2.4)	<0.001
Persons using dementia drugs (n (%))	12.0	(46.2)	17.0	(38.6)	0.537	54.0	(50.9)	16.0	(41.0)	0.289
Numbers of OTC (mean (±SD))*	0.7	(0.8)	0.8	(0.8)	0.604	0.7	0.7	1.0	0.7	0.047
MMSE-NR (mean (±SD))	20.1	(4.2)	22.6	(4.5)	0.021	18.5	(6.1)	22.4	(4.2)	<0.001
RDRS-2 (mean (±SD))	38.9	(9.5)	32.0	(7.3)	0.001	40.2	(10.0)	27.7	(5.3)	0.001

Abbreviations: DS dietary supplements, PD prescription drug, SD standard deviation, OTC over-the-counter drug, MMSE-NR Mini Mental State Examination-Norwegian Revision, RDRS-2 Rapid Disability Rating Scale-2
*Data are missing from two participants
**Six respondents did not use PD regularly. Four respondents used no PD. Two respondents, who used only vitamin B12 injection, were not included in the 145 respondents that used PD, as they were independent on daily assistance
Note that the RDRS-2 scale range from 21 to 84, where a score of 21 points indicates normal function in activities of daily living and a score of 84 points indicate complete dysfunctionality. The MSEE-NR scale range from zero to 30, where 30 points indicate normal cognitive function
Statistics are independent Student’s t-test for continuous variables such as age, numbers of PD and OTC, MMSE-NR and RDRS-2. Statistics are Pearson’s chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests for categorical variables such as gender, living alone, receiving help from home care service and using dementia drugs. Bonferroni adjusted α was 0.05/9 resulting in α ≤ 0.006. Significant comparisons after adjustment are printed bold

ISSN: 2662-7671