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DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1242817
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York
Effectiveness of Standardized Ginkgo biloba Extract on Cognitive Symptoms of Dementia with a Six-Month Treatment: A Bivariate Random Effect Meta-Analysis
Publication History
received 26.02.2009
revised 28.08.2009
accepted 06.10.2009
Publication Date:
26 January 2010 (online)
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/pharmaco/201003/lookinside/thumbnails/10.1055-s-0029-1242817-1.jpg)
Abstract
Introduction: The objective of this study is to take into consideration the influence of baseline risk on the treatment effect and evaluate the effectiveness of standardized Ginkgo biloba extract (GbE) on cognitive symptoms of dementia with the treatment period of approximately 6 months.
Methods: We systematically searched the literature to identify all randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials (English language) of GbE in the treatment of dementia. Data were extracted from selected trials and combined with standard meta-analysis methods. A bivariate meta-analysis was carried out to further estimate the effect size of GbE.
Results: The random effect estimate of standard mean difference (SMD) between GbE and placebo groups of 6 selected trials was −0.89 (95% CI −1.82 to 0.04) in the assessment of cognitive function. Bivariate random effect estimate of difference of change in ADAS-cog scores was −2.65 (95% CI –−4.53 to −0.76), which showed a significant difference in favor of GbE.
Conclusion: Considering baseline risk in the assessment of treatment effect, GbE was found to be effective for cognitive functions in dementia with the treatment of 6 months.
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1 These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence
H.-Z. ChenPhD
Department of Pharmacology and Biostatistics Shanghai
Jiaotong University School of Medicine
200025 Shanghai
People's Republic of China
Phone: +86/21/6467 4721
Fax: +86/21/6467 4721
Email: yaoli@shsmu.edu.cn
L. Zhang
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Shanghai Jiaotong University
School of Medicine
200025 Shanghai
People's Republic of China
Phone: +86/21/6384 6590
Fax: +86/21/5456 2380
Email: zhanglu614@126.com