The effects of antimuscarinic treatment on the cognition of spinal cord injured individuals with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction: a prospective controlled before-and-after study

Study design: Prospective controlled before-and-after study. Objectives: To investigate the effects of antimuscarinic treatment of neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction on the cognition of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) during the early post-acute phase. Setting: Single SCI rehabilitation center. Methods: Patients with acute traumatic SCI admitted for primary rehabilitation from 2011 to 2015 were screened for study enrollment. Study participants underwent baseline neuropsychological assessments prior to their first urodynamic evaluation (6–8 weeks after SCI). Individuals suffering from neurogenic detrusor overactivity received antimuscarinic treatment, and those not requiring antimuscarinic treatment constituted the control group. The neuropsychological follow-up assessment was carried out 3 months after the baseline assessment. The effects of group and time on the neuropsychological parameters were investigated. Results: The data of 29 individuals were evaluated (control group 19, antimuscarinic group 10). The group had a significant ( P ≤0.033) effect on immediate recall, attention ability and perseveration. In the control group, individuals performed significantly ( P ≤0.05) better in immediate recall both at baseline (percentile rank 40, 95% CI 21–86 versus 17, 95% CI 4–74) and follow-up (percentile rank 40, 95% CI 27–74 versus 16, 95% CI 2–74). The time had a significant ( P ≤0.04) effect on attention ability, processing speed, word fluency and visuospatial performance. The individuals in both groups performed better at the follow-up compared to the baseline assessment. Conclusion: Even though, we did not observe cognitive deterioration in the investigated, cognitively intact SCI individuals during the first 3 treatment months, the concerns regarding deleterious effects of antimuscarinics on cognition remain.