Anticholinergic Drug Burden in Noncancer Versus Cancer Patients Near the End of Life

• Published in: Journal of pain and symptom management Vol. 52; no. 5; pp. 737 - 743.e3
• Main Authors: Hochman, Michael J., Kamal, Arif H., Wolf, Steven P., Samsa, Greg P., Currow, David C., Abernethy, Amy P., LeBlanc, Thomas W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2016; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Aged; Antagonist drugs; Anticholinergics; Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Cancer; Cholinergic antagonists; Cholinergic Antagonists - adverse effects; Cholinergic Antagonists - therapeutic use; Clinical trials; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Comorbidity; Death & dying; Disease management; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; End of life decisions; Fatigue; Fatigue - epidemiology; Female; functional status; Humans; Life threatening sickness; Logistic Models; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical diagnosis; Multivariate Analysis; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Odds Ratio; Palliative Care; Patients; Quality of Life; Quantitative analysis; Side effects; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology; Sleepiness; Symptom management; Terminal Care; Cholinergic antagonists; comorbidity; functional status; quality of life; palliative care
• ISSN: 0885-3924; 1873-6513; 1873-6513
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.03.020

Anticholinergic drugs can cause several side effects, impairing cognition and quality of life (QOL). Cancer patients are often exposed to increasing cumulative anticholinergic load (ACL) as they approach death, but this burden has not been examined in patients with nonmalignant diseases. To determine ACL and its impact in noncancer versus cancer palliative care patients. We performed a secondary analysis of 244 subjects enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. ACL was quantified with the Anticholinergic Drug Scale. We used multivariable regression to calculate the effect of ACL on key outcomes, including drowsiness, fatigue, and QOL. Patients were stratified by diagnosis, and drugs were grouped as symptom management (SM) or disease management (DM). Overall, ACL in cancer and noncancer patients was not significantly different (2.6 vs. 2.4; P = 0.23). SM drugs caused greater anticholinergic exposure than DM drugs in both cancer and noncancer patients (2.3 vs. 0.5, and 1.5 vs. 1.3, respectively; both P < 0.05); however, DM drugs exposed noncancer patients to relatively more ACL than cancer patients (1.2 vs. 0.6, P < 0.0001). ACL was associated with worse fatigue (odds ratio, 1.08; CI, 1.002–1.17) and worse QOL (odds ratio, 0.89; CI, 0.80–0.98). ACL is associated with worse fatigue and QOL and may not differ significantly between cancer and noncancer patients nearing end of life. SM drugs are more responsible for ACL in cancer and noncancer patients, although DM drugs contribute significantly to ACL in the latter group. We recommend more attention to reducing anticholinergic use in all patients with life-limiting illness.