P25: Effects of cannabidiol on behavioral and psychological symptoms of vascular dementia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the effect and safety of Cannabidiol (CBD) on behavioral and psychological symptoms in elderly with Vascular dementia (VD).

Methods: Double- blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving elderly patients with VD at the psychogeriatrics and vascular dementia outpatient clinic at Hospital das Clínicas de Ribeirão Preto. The intervention evaluated was the use of CBD 300mg/day compared to placebo. The instruments used are: Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Clinical Global Impression Scale, Side Effects Scale, Mini- Mental State Examination, Brief Cognitive Screening Battery, Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living, Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly, Zarit Burden Inventory. The included participants were assessed at the beginning of the study (baseline assessment), in the first, second and fourth weeks after the start of the clinicaltrial.

Results: 30 participants were included. The mixed ANOVA with repeated measures showed that there is an effect of the interaction time and group (F (2.12; 59.43) = 4.02; p < 0.05; ηp2 = 0.13) on the total score of the brief scale psychiatric assessment and neuropsychiatric inventory (F (1.58; 44.31) = 3.61; p =0.05; ηp2 = 0.11). The mixed ANOVA of repeated measures showed no effect of the interaction of time and group for the mini-mental state examination, brief cognitive screening battery. Adverse effects were mild and transient, and similar to the placebo group.

Conclusions: In this study, cannabidiol reduced psychological and behavioral symptoms in patients with vascular dementia. Future studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the findings. (F(1.58;44.31) = 3.61; p =0.05; ηp2 = 0.11). The mixed ANOVA of repeated measures showed no effect of the interaction of time and group for the mini-mental state examination, brief cognitive screening battery. Adverse effects were mild and transient, and similar to the placebo group.