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Verbal aggression in Alzheimer's disease. Clinical, functional and neuropsychological correlates
1Mercer's Institute for Research in Ageing, St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland. mira@stjames.ie
Objectives:
To determine the clinical, functional and neuropsychological correlates of verbal aggression in Alzheimer's disease in a group of consecutive first attendees to a memory clinic.
Methods:
150 people were evaluated and diagnosed as suffering with probable Alzheimer's disease. These people were tested using the Behave-AD for the presence of verbal aggression, delusions, depression and agitation. They were also assessed with cognitive, functional and neuropsychological scales.
Results:
Twenty-eight per cent of this group of Alzheimer patients had exhibited some verbal aggression in the preceding month. Male gender (p = 0.022), the presence of paranoid and delusional ideation (p = 0.003) and agitation (p = 0.042) were significantly associated with verbal aggression in a stepwise backward logistic regression analysis.
Conclusion:
The presence of verbal aggression should prompt the clinician to search for delusional ideation, which may respond to pharmacotherapy.