title: Estimating the prevalence of agitation in community-dwelling persons with Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: To estimate the prevalence of, and develop norms for, significant agitation in community-dwelling persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the authors applied three different criteria to persons with AD (n=235) and normal elderly control subjects (NEC; n=64). The criteria were used to identify the minimum total score on the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) that represents significant or "excessive" agitation and to estimate its prevalence. The "ultraliberal" criterion resulted in 99.1% of persons with AD and 56.6% of NEC being classified as "excessively" disturbed. The "liberal" and "conservative" criteria classified 66.7% and 68.2% of persons with AD, and no NEC, as "excessively" disturbed. The authors conclude that the best estimate of prevalence of excessive agitation in this population is 67.5%, and that individuals with CMAI scores of 0 to 14 probably should not be considered to have excessive agitation.
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0949, USA. rtracten@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Rochelle E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Tractenberg
authors.forename: Myron F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: Leon J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Thal
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs