title: Cross-Ethnic Differences in the Severity of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Persons With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease.
abstract: In this cross-sectional study, we examined the neuropsychiatric profile of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q). Data were available on 875 controls, 339 MCI cases, and 975 AD participants. Surprisingly, differences in neuropsychiatric symptom (NPS) severity by ethnicity in subjects with AD, but not with MCI, were found. More so, in Hispanics with AD, a higher frequency in most of the individual NPI-Q symptom items of the scale was observed, except for apathy. After adjustment for clinical features, some individual NPI-Q symptoms also showed an association with Hispanic ethnicity in the control group that nearly reached statistical significance. There may be cross-ethnic differences in the neuropsychiatric presentation of AD in Hispanics versus non-Hispanic whites. Future studies are needed to clarify the etiology of these differences, and to assess the need for ethnicity-specific treatment and care-giving interventions.
authors.affiliation: From the Dept. of Psychiatry, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, El Paso, Tex.; the Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, and the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Consulting Lab, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, El Paso, Tex.; and the Depts. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex., and South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Geriatric Research Education and Care Center (GRECC).
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.affiliation: From the Dept. of Psychiatry, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, El Paso, Tex.; the Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, and the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Consulting Lab, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, El Paso, Tex.; and the Depts. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex., and South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Geriatric Research Education and Care Center (GRECC).
authors.forename: Alok Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Dwivedi
authors.affiliation: From the Dept. of Psychiatry, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, El Paso, Tex.; the Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, and the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Consulting Lab, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso, El Paso, Tex.; and the Depts. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medicine, Family and Community Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Tex., and South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Geriatric Research Education and Care Center (GRECC).
authors.forename: Donald R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Royall
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013781:Texas