Personality Traits in the Siblings and Children of Patients with Frontotemporal Dementia: A Questionnaire-based Study

Frontotemporal dementias (FLD) form a group of relatively young onset, male dominant dementias with significant behavioral abnormalities early in the course of the disease. Routine assessment suggested preexisting traits such as lack of empathy, self-directedness, and persistence in most of these persons even before the onset of disease. Hence, we decided the study, the siblings and children of patients for any specific traits and correlation with hexanucleotide expansion repeats if any traits were identified.

A total of 35 age- and gender-matched cases and controls were included for the study as per criteria. They were screened for mental illness and cognitive dysfunction using Hindi Mental State Examination and Mini-mental State Examination. Eligible persons were given temperament and character inventory (TCI) scores for the recommended parameters. Hexanucleotide expansion was also studied in the patients, cases and controls.

No specific personality trait was found to have an increased correlation with siblings and children of patients with FLD in this small group using TCI scores.

7% of cases showed Hexanucleotide expansion suggesting a possible risk. The role of self reporting bias resulting in normal personality trait needs to be addressed in future studies.