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Neuropsychiatric disturbance in Alzheimer's disease clusters into three groups: the Cache County study
C G Lyketsos1, J M Sheppard, M Steinberg
1Neuropsychiatry Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, USA. kostas@jhmi.edu
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
|December 18, 2001
Summary
Most Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients experience neuropsychiatric symptoms. A study found these symptoms cluster into affective, psychotic, or other disturbances, impacting 60% of individuals with AD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder.
- Neuropsychiatric disturbances are common in AD but their patterns are not well-defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the frequency and inter-relationships of neuropsychiatric disturbances in a US population-based sample of individuals with Alzheimer's disease.
Main Methods:
- A population-based sample of 198 individuals with AD was identified from 5,092 elderly residents in Cache County, Utah.
- A comprehensive neuropsychiatric examination, including the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), was administered.
Main Results:
- 60% of individuals with AD reported at least one neuropsychiatric symptom.
- Latent class analysis identified three distinct symptom profiles: no/mono-symptomatic (59%), affective syndrome (28%), and psychotic syndrome (13%).
Conclusions:
- A majority of individuals with Alzheimer's disease experience neuropsychiatric disturbances.
- These disturbances can be empirically classified into affective, psychotic, and other syndromes.
- Further research is needed to validate this classification biologically and predictively.