Neuropsychiatric symptoms in amnestic and nonamnestic mild cognitive impairment.
BACKGROUND
The information regarding neuropsychiatric symptoms in the subtypes of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is inadequate.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the behavioral neuropsychiatric symptoms of MCI in two subgroups of MCI patients with different neuropsychological characteristics.


METHODS
MCI patients are classified as amnestic (aMCI) if they have a prominent memory impairment, either alone or with other cognitive impairments (multiple domains with amnesia), or nonamnestic (naMCI) if a single nonmemory domain is impaired alone or in combination with other nonmemory deficits (multiple domains without amnesia). The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) was administrated to detect behavioral and psychological disturbances observed by the caregiver.


RESULTS
120 subjects were analyzed: 94 were classified as aMCI and 26 as naMCI. Subjects with aMCI were more compromised than those with naMCI on global cognitive functions. About 85% of MCI patients had some neuropsychiatric symptoms evaluated with the NPI and the most prevalent symptom was depression, followed by anxiety. A significantly higher prevalence of hallucinations and sleep disorders has been observed in the naMCI group in comparison with the aMCI group.


CONCLUSIONS
Neuropsychiatric symptoms occur in the majority of persons with MCI and may be the earliest manifestation of different diseases, each one associated with different clinical profiles at the stage of MCI.
Rozzini
L
L
Neurological Clinic, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. lrozzini@iol.it
Vicini Chilovi
B
B
Conti
M
M
Delrio
I
I
Borroni
B
B
Trabucchi
M
M
Padovani
A
A
D000368:Aged; D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index