title: Behaviour changes in dementia. 2: Are there behavioural syndromes?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish whether robust behavioural 'syndromes' can be identified from among the widely heterogeneous behavioural changes which occur in dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal, prospective study with follow-up at 4 and 8 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community settings in Oxfordshire, UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  97 elderly people with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia (in many cases confirmed by postmortem examination) and who were living at home with a carer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Each subject's behaviour was assessed in detail at each interview using the Present Behavioural Examination to assess subject's behaviour over the preceding 4 weeks. Seventeen key behaviour items which were both common and clinically important were selected for further analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three syndromes were identified: (a) overactivity (walking more, walking aimlessly, trailing the carer or checking where the carer was); (b) aggressive behaviour (physical aggression, aggressive resistance, verbal aggression); (c) psychosis (anxiety, persecutory ideas and hallucinations). The same syndromes were found using data collected at three different time points and by using a variety of statistical techniques, confirming their robustness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overactivity, aggressive behaviour and psychosis form three distinct behavioural syndromes in dementia.
authors.affiliation: University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hope
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keene
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fairburn
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McShane
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jacoby
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000374:Aggression; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000145:classification*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011618:Psychotic Disorders; D013577:Syndrome