title: Factors affecting survival in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Factors affecting survival of 178 patients diagnosed using NINCDS/ADRDA criteria for Alzheimer's disease were studied. All patients were drawn from the Camberwell Health Authority Area and so were a representative sample of subjects from a clinical old age psychiatry service. The mortality rate of the sample was 3.5 times that expected after adjustment for age. Younger subjects had a higher standardized mortality ratio than older subjects. The cumulative three-year mortality of the sample was 47%. Factors shown to be associated with a reduced survival included: increasing age, longer duration of illness, male sex, presence of physical illness, poor cognitive function, observed depression and absence of misidentification syndromes. Apraxia was a stronger predictor of early death than aphasia or dysmnesia.
authors.affiliation: Section of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jacoby
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Levy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology; D001072:Apraxias / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed