DRUG EXPOSURE AND RISK OF DEMENTIA (EXMEDEM)

In France, a person consumes an average of 48 boxes of medicines per year (ANSM 2012). Among these substances, some, not prescribed in an indication related to cognitive function, however, will influence thereon.

Several drug candidates with potential preventive effects have already been explored with little success (statins, antihypertensives, NSAIDs, aspirin, steroid hormones). Other studies have suggested the existence of deleterious cognitive effects of certain substances (benzodiazepines, anticholinergics, anti-cancer chemotherapy). However, only the effects of a limited number of drugs were analyzed, and most drugs have not been specific study in epidemiology.

The study of this research theme has often been restricted by the limited size of the cohort of staff, not allowing the study of sometimes rare drug exposures, and poverty of the information collected on drug exposures. Thus, most studies focuses on families of molecules among the most prescribed. In addition, we now know that the pathophysiological process underlying Alzheimer's disease (representing 2/3 of dementia), actually begins more than 10 years before the diagnosis of dementia. It is therefore essential to have a setback of several years between drug exposure and diagnosis of dementia to assess their role in the genesis and evolution of the disease.

The Generalist Sample Beneficiaries (EGB) is a database containing data of health insurance and those of medicalization program of information systems (PMSI) for a sample of 550 000 subjects enrolled in the general scheme of the insurance since 2004 and followed for a period of 20 years.