title: Characteristics of generalized anxiety disorder in patients with dementia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Overlap of cognitive and anxiety symptoms (i.e., difficulty concentrating, fatigue, restlessness) contributes to inconsistent, complicated assessment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in persons with dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anxious dementia patients completed a psychiatric interview, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire-Abbreviated, and the Rating for Anxiety in Dementia scale. Analyses to describe the 43 patients with and without GAD included the Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney two-sample test, Fisher's exact test. Predictors of GAD diagnosis were identified using logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Those with GAD were more likely to be male, have less severe dementia and endorsed more worry, and anxiety compared to patients without GAD. Gender, muscle tension and fatigue differentiated those with GAD from those without GAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although this study is limited by a small sample, it describes clinical characteristics of GAD in dementia, highlighting the importance of muscle tension and fatigue in recognizing GAD in persons with dementia.
authors: Houston Veterans Affairs Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence, TX 77030, USA. jcalleo@bcm.edu
authors: Jessica S
authors: JS
authors: Calleo
authors: Mark E
authors: ME
authors: Kunik
authors: Dana
authors: D
authors: Reid
authors: Cynthia
authors: C
authors: Kraus-Schuman
authors: Amber
authors: A
authors: Paukert
authors: Tziona
authors: T
authors: Regev
authors: Nancy
authors: N
authors: Wilson
authors: Nancy J
authors: NJ
authors: Petersen
authors: A Lynn
authors: AL
authors: Snow
authors: Melinda
authors: M
authors: Stanley
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005221:Fatigue / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index