Association Between Ginkgo Biloba Extract Prescriptions and Dementia Incidence in Outpatients with Mild Cognitive Impairment in Germany: A Retrospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Clinical trials have demonstrated a significant effectiveness of Ginkgo biloba therapy versus placebo in patients with dementia. OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to analyze the impact of Ginkgo biloba drug prescriptions on dementia incidence in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a real-world setting. METHODS: This retrospective study was based on the IQVIA Disease Analyzer database and included patients aged 65 or older with a first diagnosis of MCI from January 2000 to December 2019. Each patient was followed for up to 20 years after MCI diagnosis until February 2021. Date of the first diagnosis of dementia or loss to follow-up, whichever occurred first, was noted. To estimate the association between Ginkgo biloba prescriptions during the follow-up and dementia incidence, a multivariable Cox regression analysis was performed, adjusted for age, sex, health insurance, documented co-diagnoses, and prescription of cholinesterase inhibitors. RESULTS: Overall, 24,483 MCI patients (mean age: 77.0 years, 56.3% women) were included. It was found that > 2 prescriptions of Ginkgo biloba were significantly associated with a reduced dementia incidence (HR: 0.71 (95% CI: 0.55–0.91), p = 0.007), as compared with no Ginkgo biloba prescription. The effect of receiving > 3 Ginkgo biloba prescriptions was even stronger, with an HR of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.48–0.86), p = 0.003), while for > 4 prescriptions the HR was 0.58 (95% CI: 0.41–0.82) (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: All-cause dementia incidence decreased with higher numbers of Ginkgo biloba prescriptions in MCI patients.