BPSD Patterns in Patients With Severe Neuropsychiatric Disturbances: Insight From the RECAGE Study

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Geriatrics
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) vary with dementia type in mild-to-moderate stages.
• Limited data exists on BPSD profiles in patients with severe BPSD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if BPSD profiles differ among dementia etiologies in patients with severe symptoms.
• To characterize neuropsychiatric symptom profiles in severe BPSD based on diagnosis.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of baseline data from 398 patients with severe BPSD (NPI ≥ 32) from the European RECAGE cohort.
• Dementia diagnoses included Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Lewy body disease/Parkinsonian dementia (LBD/PD), and vascular dementia (VD).

Main Results:

• Mean total Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) score was 52.11.
• LBD/PD patients exhibited more hallucinations, anxiety, and delusions compared to other dementia types.
• FTD patients showed fewer delusions and more disinhibition than other neurodegenerative disorders.

Conclusions:

• Severe BPSD presents distinct neuropsychiatric symptom profiles that are dependent on the specific dementia etiology.
• These findings highlight etiological differences in symptom presentation even in advanced dementia stages.