Potentially inappropriate medications related to two-year progression of mild cognitive impairment and dementia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Potentially inappropriate medications related to two-year progression of mild cognitive impairment and dementia Hege Kersten, Maria L. Barca, Rannveig Sakshaug Eldholm, Karin Persson, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6290335/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology → Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Purpose To document use and impact of Potentially Inappropriate Medications in individuals with cognitive impairments (PIMcogs) on progression of dementia-related disease factors over a two-year period. Methods A retrospective study of patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia diagnosed and followed-up in outpatient memory clinics in Norway during 2009 − 18. Beers (2019)- and STOPP-2 criteria were used to identify PIMcogs at baseline and two-year-follow-up. PIMcog use in terms of dementia severity, cognitive function, and neuropsychiatric and depressive symptoms were analyzed in regression models. Results The prevalence of PIMcogs increased from 16% at baseline to 23% at follow-up. PIMcog users were more likely to be women (63.5%) and they used more drugs, with a median of 5 drugs at baseline and 4 drugs at follow-up, compared to non-users who had a median of 3 used drugs at both time points. PIMcog users had higher median Neuropsychiatric Inventory severity sum scores (6 [3.0–11.0] versus 4.0 [2.0–7.0]) and median Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia scores (6.5 [3.0–11.0] versus 4.0 [1.0–7.0]) compared to non-users at follow-up (p ≤ 0.002). PIMcog users exhibited more severe dementia, with a Clinical Dementia Rate-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) score of 7.0 (4.0–13.0) compared to 6.0 (3.5–10.0) in non-users. The median annual increase in CDR-SB was one unit, and PIMcog use at follow-up was significantly associated with more rapid progression of dementia severity. Conclusion Faster dementia progression was documented among PIMcog users although, the prevalence of PIMcogs was generally low in Norwegian memory clinic patients with cognitive impairments Potentially inappropriate medications mild cognitive impairment dementia memory clinics dementia progression Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Appendix1.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 08 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 29 Mar, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Mar, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 28 Mar, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 23 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6290335","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":439485432,"identity":"43b64d6c-1c5f-453e-8451-94bdbe09d10c","order_by":0,"name":"Hege Kersten","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAt0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwYGZiBlw8AgwfiAJC1pDDwSzAYkaTlMghZz9vbLBh/3nLe3l25mYC6oIEKLZc+Z4sQZz24n9sgcZmCecYYYh93IST7Mc+B2Ao9E/gFm3jZitNx/k3z4z4Fz9jwSyQxEarnBfjiZ4cABxh7itZzJYTbsOZCc2HMjmeEwD1F+OX78scSPA3b27DOSGR/zEBNiDAw8iOg4QJQGBgb2B0QqHAWjYBSMghELAODiNQ+BqQdCAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Telemark Hospital Trust","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hege","middleName":"","lastName":"Kersten","suffix":""},{"id":439485433,"identity":"76989ff2-586b-4eff-a48f-d0834467b2b0","order_by":1,"name":"Maria L. 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