Impact of nighttime donepezil administration on sleep in the older adult population: A retrospective study

Introduction. Although not definite, studies are finding Alzheimer's disease may be related to loss of cholinergic innervation. In order to impact this loss of function, therapeutic agents have been developed to reduce the breakdown of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter vital in cognitive processes. Donepezil has been used in Alzheimer's disease for improving cognition. Although the package insert suggests nighttime administration to reduce the instance of daytime side effects, some patients report sleep disturbances. Methods. Patient charts at the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Neuroscience Center (TMH-NSC) were reviewed. Charts of those patients who met the inclusion criteria were used to determine the correlation between night time administration of donepezil and sleep disturbances. Results. A total of 186 patient charts were analyzed. Of those 186, 103 of the patients were taking donepezil as directed in the package labeling, at night time. Nearly half (47.6%) of the patients taking donepezil at night...