The behavioral pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Scale (BEHAVE-AD): factor structure among community-dwelling Alzheimer's disease patients.
OBJECTIVE
The aims of this study were to (a) determine the factor structure of the Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Scale (BEHAVE-AD), and (b) examine the associations of the observed factors to the level of cognitive impairment.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study of geriatric patients evaluated at an outpatient memory disorders clinic.


METHODS
One hundred and fifty-one consecutive patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) according to NINCDS-ADRDA diagnostic criteria.


RESULTS
Principal factors analysis with Varimax rotation resulted in a five-factor solution that accounted for 40.0% of the common variance. The factors included agitation/anxiety (agitation, anxiety of upcoming events; other anxiety), psychosis (delusions of theft, suspiciousness/paranoia; visual hallucinations), aggression (verbal aggressiveness; physical threats/violence; fear of being left alone; other delusions), depression (tearfulness; depressed mood) and activity disturbance (wandering; delusion one's house is not one's home). Several factors were associated with level of cognitive impairment as assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that the BEHAVE-AD measures a wide range of behavioral pathology that can be empirically represented by five independent symptom clusters among outpatient AD patients.
Harwood
D G
DG
Wien Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL 33140, USA. dylan@sodre.net
Ownby
R L
RL
Barker
W W
WW
Duara
R
R
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology