title: Early behavioral symptoms and course of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if behavioral symptoms detected at initial evaluation relate to cognitive or functional status or survival time in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. method: Review, in 100 cases of autopsy-proven AD, of the relationship of behavioral symptoms detected at initial evaluation to cognitive and global function measures and survival time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Behavioral symptoms had occurred in 74% of patients, including apathy (51%), hallucinations (25%), delusions (20%) and depressed mood (6.6%). Verbal aggression was common (36.8%); physical aggression less so (17%). The symptomatic group was more functionally (but not cognitively) impaired and had shorter median survival time (8 years: 95% CI: 7-9 years vs. 10 years: 95% CI: 8-12 years; P = 0.002) than the asymptomatic group. The presence of any one symptom at initial evaluation accounted for 6.1% of the variance in duration of illness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Presence of behavioral symptoms at initial evaluation of AD patients is associated with greater functional impairment and shorter survival time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA. myon@usouthwestern.edu
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Hynan
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bret
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013781:Texas