Early behavioral symptoms and course of Alzheimer's disease.
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.
Weiner
M F
MF
Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA. myon@usouthwestern.edu
Hynan
L S
LS
Bret
M E
ME
White
C
C
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