title: Patterns of neuropsychiatric sub-syndromes in Brazilian and Norwegian patients with dementia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) affect the majority of patients who have dementia. Neuropsychiatric sub-syndromes with symptoms that occur together and have common neurobiological correlates have been identified. There are scarce data regarding the comparison of the pattern of the neuropsychiatric sub-syndromes in distinct ethnical and cultural populations. We aim at comparing the pattern of the NPS, and the factor analysis of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-10) in two samples of outpatients with dementia living in Brazil and Norway.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional study. The sample consists of 168 Brazilian and 155 Norwegian demented patients from psychogeriatric facilities and community-based educational programs. Brazilian patients were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (63.7%), vascular dementia (15.5%), or mixed dementia (20.8%), whereas the diagnoses of Norwegian patients were Alzheimer's disease (97.4%) and mixed dementia (2.6%). Principal component analysis with the Varimax rotation was used for factor analysis of the NPI-10.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Apathy (80.4 %), agitation/aggression (45.8%), and aberrant motor behavior (45.8%) were the most common symptoms in the Brazilian sample. Apathy (72.3%), dysphoria (61.9%), and anxiety (52.3%) were the most frequent symptoms in the Norwegian sample. Factor analysis of the NPI-10 revealed three syndromes for the Brazilian (Psychosis, Mood, Psychomotor) and Norwegian (Psychosis, Mood, Frontal) groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of individual NPS may differ among distinct populations. However, Psychosis and Depression are common sub-syndromes in diverse ethnical and cultural patients with dementia. Our findings support the syndromic approach for the clinical assessment of the patients with dementia.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Alzheimer´s Disease, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. atruzzi@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Annibal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Truzzi
authors.forename: Ingun
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ulstein
authors.forename: Letice
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valente
authors.forename: Eliasz
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.forename: Evandro Silva Freire
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.forename: Jerson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laks
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Engedal
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D057565:Apathy; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D003710:Demography; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000379:methods