title: Survival of ethnic Chinese with Alzheimer's disease: a 5-year longitudinal study in Taiwan.
abstract: Survival time and mortality risk factors in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been documented in Western countries, but comparable information on the ethnic Chinese is scarce. We consecutively recruited 159 AD patients and 145 control subjects from the Memory Clinic of Taipei Veterans General Hospital. After admission to the study, each subject received clinical, neuropsychological, and psychiatric evaluation and apolipoprotein E genotyping. Survival status was followed for 5 years. Forty-six AD patients (28.9%) and 3 control subjects (2.1%) died during the 5-year follow-up period. The mean survival time for AD patients was 4.48 years (SD = 0.1 years) after the time of enrollment. Among individuals with AD, those with severe disease, older patients, and those experiencing hallucinations were at greater risk for increased mortality. As expected, AD shortened life expectancy in these patients. The factors found to correlate with a shorter life span may suggest effective health care strategies for AD patients.
authors: Department of Neurology, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taiwan.
authors: Ping-Huang
authors: PH
authors: Tsai
authors: Shih-Pin
authors: SP
authors: Chen
authors: Ker-Neng
authors: KN
authors: Lin
authors: Pei-Ning
authors: PN
authors: Wang
authors: Hsiao-Chien
authors: HC
authors: Wang
authors: Chia-Yih
authors: CY
authors: Liu
authors: Chen-Jee
authors: CJ
authors: Hong
authors: Hsiu-Chih
authors: HC
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E