Benefits and Harms of Prescription Drugs and Supplements for Treatment of Clinical Alzheimer-Type Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Effects of drug treatment of clinical Alzheimer-type dementia (CATD) are uncertain. Purpose: To summarize evidence on the effects of prescription drugs and supplements for CATD treatment. Data Sources: Electronic bibliographic databases (inception to November 2019), ClinicalTrials.gov (to November 2019), and systematic review bibliographies. Study Selection: English-language trials of prescription drug and supplement treatment in older adults with CATD that report cognition, function, global measures, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), or harms. Minimum treatment was 24 weeks (>/=2 weeks for selected BPSD). Data Extraction: Studies with low or medium risk of bias (ROB) were analyzed. Two reviewers rated ROB. One reviewer extracted data; another verified extraction accuracy. Data Synthesis: Fifty-five studies reporting non-BPSD outcomes (most