Anticholinergic Burden Calculator
Score anticholinergic burden with the ACB (Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden) scale — look up each medication and total the published scores. Educational tool only.
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Scoring uses the published Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale by Boustani, Campbell and colleagues (2012 update). Each drug on the list is scored 1, 2 or 3 and the total is the simple sum. The list is the published one and is not exhaustive: newer agents and many low-potency drugs are not on it, and an unlisted drug contributes 0 without implying it is free of anticholinergic activity. Scores apply to the drug itself — dose, formulation and route are not part of the scale.
Frequently asked questions
What is an anticholinergic burden score?
It is the sum of the scores assigned to a person's medicines by a published anticholinergic scale. This calculator uses the 2012 Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) list, on which listed medicines score 1, 2 or 3.
What does an ACB score of 3 or more mean?
The published ACB literature commonly describes a total of 3 or more as elevated anticholinergic burden. It is a prompt for a clinician or pharmacist to review the full medicines list and the person in context, not a diagnosis or an instruction to stop treatment.
Why is my medicine not in the ACB calculator?
The calculator reproduces a specific published 2012 list rather than guessing scores for unlisted medicines. A medicine absent from that version contributes 0 here, but that does not prove it has no anticholinergic effect.
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