Medication evidence profile

Darifenacin

Ask about Darifenacin

Clinical overview

Bladder antimuscarinic

Darifenacin has public medication-list entries in Yamada-ABS 2023, BAAS 2019, Swe-ABS 2023, GABS 2018, and CALS 2022 Table 4. These are 5 separate source versions, each with its own evidence and definitions.

Source-specific scores

SourceScore
JARSNot listed
Yamada-ABS3
BAAS3
Swe-ABS3
GABS3
KABSNot listed
CALS3

How to read this: 0 means the source explicitly assigned zero. “Not listed” means the source did not provide a score for this medication. Scores from different scales are not averaged.

How to interpret the evidence

5 of 7 public source versions contain an explicit medication-list entry for darifenacin.

The available rows for darifenacin display the same numeric value. Agreement of the displayed numbers does not establish identical methods, clinical meaning or patient-level risk.

None of the public rows in this profile is an explicit zero. An unlisted source still supplies no value.

Source labels and provenance · 5 observations
  1. Yamada Pharmacological Anticholinergic Burden Scale 2023

    Source label: Darifenacin. Published value: 3.
    Source version: YAMADA-ABS-2023
    Source location: RC4 source recovery; recovery_scope=primary_nonzero_complete
    Observation: YAMADA_ABS_2023_R0082; rating state: published_rating.

  2. Brazilian Anticholinergic Activity Scale 2019

    Source label: Darifenacin. Published value: 3.
    Source version: BAAS-2019
    Source location: RC4 source recovery; recovery_scope=primary_table_complete
    Observation: BAAS_2019_R0017; rating state: published_rating.

  3. Swedish Anticholinergic Burden Scale 2023

    Source label: Darifenacin. Published value: 3.
    Source version: SWE-ABS-2023
    Source location: RC4 source recovery; recovery_scope=primary_final_nonzero_complete
    Observation: SWE_ABS_2023_R0089; rating state: published_rating.

  4. German Anticholinergic Burden Score 2018

    Source label: Darifenacin. Published value: 3.
    Source version: GABS-2018
    Source location: RC4 source recovery; recovery_scope=primary_nonzero_complete
    Observation: GABS_2018_R0130; rating state: published_rating.

  5. CALS 2022 - primary final Table 4

    Source label: Darifenacin. Published value: 3.
    Source version: CALS-2022-primary-table4
    Source location: Table 4; literal capture row 132; displayed table row 19; displayed column 6
    Observation: CALS2022_T4_0132; rating state: published_final_table_rating.

Class context — bladder antimuscarinics

These medications are included in the 2023 AGS strong-anticholinergic reference list. The source cautions that comparative cognitive-risk evidence across individual bladder antimuscarinics is inconsistent; the class module does not establish a within-class ranking.

AGS Beers 2023 Table 7

Older-adult medication context

AGS Beers context: classification and criteria

AGS Beers 2023 · Strong anticholinergic
  • Table 7: Strong-anticholinergic reference listing.
  • Table 2: A separate general-avoid criterion is not mapped for this medication in this supplement. This is a coverage statement, not a safety conclusion.

Source-scale observations and geriatric criteria answer different questions. The Beers material does not alter any score above.

Adults 65 years and older; intended for ambulatory, acute, and institutional care except hospice/end-of-life settings.

Condition-specific and medication-combination contexts

Table 3: clinical conditions

Condition-specific contexts: delirium or high delirium risk, dementia or cognitive impairment, and history of falls or fractures. Applicability depends on the condition and the relevant source criterion.

Table 5: cumulative anticholinergic exposure

Concurrent use of more than one anticholinergic medication should be minimized because cumulative exposure increases geriatric safety concerns.

American Geriatrics Society 2023 updated AGS Beers Criteria — Tables 2, 3, 5 and 7; selected criterion context.

Potentially inappropriate does not mean absolutely contraindicated. Apply the criterion in clinical context and use shared decision-making.

What this page does not establish

  • No medication-list entry is available here from JARS 2025 and KABS 2020 open validation supplement. These gaps remain “Not listed”; no score is inferred from another source or from class membership.
  • No route inference unless present in the source label.
  • These source records do not estimate an individual’s probability of harm or establish whether to start, stop or change a medication. Ordinal source scores are not averaged into a UnifiedACB score.

References

  1. Yamada S, Mochizuki M, Chimoto J, Futokoro R, Kagota S, Shinozuka K. Development of a pharmacological evidence-based anticholinergic burden scale for medications commonly used in older adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2023;23(7):558-564. doi:10.1111/ggi.14619. Open source
  2. Nery RT, Reis AMM. Development of a Brazilian anticholinergic activity drug scale. Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2019;17(2):eAO4435. doi:10.31744/einstein_journal/2019AO4435. Open source
  3. Rube T, Ecorcheville A, Londos E, Modig S, Johansson P. Development of the Swedish anticholinergic burden scale (Swe-ABS). BMC Geriatr. 2023;23(1):518. doi:10.1186/s12877-023-04225-1. Open source
  4. Kiesel EK, Hopf YM, Drey M. An anticholinergic burden score for German prescribers: score development. BMC Geriatr. 2018;18(1):239. doi:10.1186/s12877-018-0929-6. Open source
  5. Ramos H, Moreno L, Pérez-Tur J, Cháfer-Pericás C, García-Lluch G, Pardo J. CRIDECO Anticholinergic Load Scale: an updated anticholinergic burden scale. Comparison with the ACB Scale in Spanish individuals with subjective memory complaints. J Pers Med. 2022;12(2):207. doi:10.3390/jpm12020207. Open source

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Medication context: Darifenacin

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