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Abstract

To examine the influence of dementia stage and psychoactive medication use on the factor structure of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Nursing Home version (NPI-NH) in Dutch nursing home patients. The NPI-NH was administered to a large sample of 1,437 patients with mild to severe dementia receiving nursing home care. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine behavioural dimensions underlying neuropsychiatric symptoms indicated by the NPI-NH across dementia stages (as assessed with the Global Deterioration Scale - GDS) and in patients with or without psychoactive medication prescribed. In GDS stages 4/5, 6 and 7, a 4- or 5-factor solution was found, with factors referred to as agitation/aggression, depression, psychosis, psychomotor agitation and apathy. These symptom clusters were replicated in the group of drug-naive patients, but only partially in the group of patients on psychoactive medication. The factor structure of the NPI-NH in nursing home patients is consistent with the clinical taxonomy of symptoms, is relatively stable across dementia stages, and is only moderately influenced by psychoactive medication use. The division of depression and apathy into separate behavioural dimensions - also in patients with severe dementia - may have important therapeutic consequences. 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

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Most cited references 21

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Which neuropsychiatric and behavioural features distinguish frontal and temporal variants of frontotemporal dementia from Alzheimer's disease?

S Bozeat, Stuart Ralph, Kristina C. Gregory … (2000)

To investigate the prevalence of changes in mood, personality, and behaviour in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and hence, which features reliably distinguish between them. To establish whether the frontal and temporal variants of FTD are characterised by different behavioural changes. A questionnaire was designed to assess a wide range of neuropsychiatric changes; it incorporated features reported in previous studies of FTD and components of the neuropsychiatric inventory.(1) This was completed by 37 carers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 33 patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), comprising 20 with temporal variant FTD (tv FTD) or semantic dementia and 13 with frontal variant FTD (fv FTD). An exploratory principal components factor analysis and discriminant function analysis was applied. Factor analysis showed four robust and meaningful symptom clusters: factor 1-stereotypic and eating behaviour; factor 2-executive dysfunction and self care; factor 3-mood changes; factor 4-loss of social awareness. Only stereotypic and altered eating behaviour and loss of social awareness reliably differentiated AD from FTD with no effect of disease severity. By contrast, executive dysfunction, poor self care, and restlessness showed a significant effect of disease severity only, with the more impaired patients scoring more highly. Changes in mood were found to be equally prevalent in the three patient groups. Analysis of individual symptoms showed increased rates of mental rigidity and depression in the patients with semantic dementia compared with those with fv FTD. Conversely, the latter group showed greater disinhibition. Discriminant function analysis correctly classified 71.4% overall and 86.5% of the patients with AD. This questionnaire disclosed striking differences between patients with FTD and AD, but only stereotypic behaviour, changes in eating preference, disinhibition, and features of poor social awareness reliably separated the groups. The patients with fv FTD and semantic dementia were behaviourally very similar, reflecting the involvement of a common network, the ventral frontal lobe, temporal pole, and amygdala. Dysexecutive symptoms and poor self care were found to be affected by the severity of the disease, reflecting perhaps spread to dorsolateral prefrontal areas relatively late in the course of both FTD and AD. This questionnaire may be of value in the diagnosis and the monitoring of therapies.

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Behaviour in frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

D. Bathgate, J. Snowden, A Varma … (2001)

The study aimed to increase understanding of behavioural changes in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and identify features that best differentiate FTD from Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cerebrovascular dementia (CvD). A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to carers of 30 FTD, 75 AD and 34 CvD patients. Behavioural changes that strongly discriminated FTD from AD and to a lesser extent CvD were loss of emotions and insight, selfishness, disinhibition, personal neglect, gluttony and sweet food preference, wandering, motor and verbal stereotypies, loss of pain, echolalia and mutism. Irritability, hyposexuality and hypersomnia did not discriminate. Emotional, eating and stereotyped behaviours correctly classified 95% of patients using regression analysis. Behavioural characteristics accurately differentiate FTD from AD and CvD. The findings highlight the particular importance of affective change in FTD, and underline the role of the frontotemporal lobes in emotion.

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On the overlap between apathy and depression in dementia.

R Mizrahi, M Garau, S Starkstein … (2005)

Whereas apathy is increasingly recognised as a frequent abnormal behaviour in dementia, its overlap with depression remains poorly understood. To assess the psychometric characteristics of a structured interview for apathy, and to examine the overlap between apathy and depression in dementia. A total of 150 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) underwent a comprehensive psychiatric and cognitive assessment. Twelve per cent of the sample met criteria for both apathy and depression, 7% met criteria for apathy only, and 31% met criteria for depression only. Apathy (but not depression) was significantly associated with more severe cognitive deficits. Apathy and anxiety scores accounted for 65% of the variance of depression scores in dementia, and the diagnosis of apathy had a minor impact on the rating of severity of depression. The Structured Interview for Apathy demonstrated adequate psychometric characteristics. Using a novel structured interview for apathy in AD we demonstrated that whereas the construct of depression primarily consists of symptom clusters of apathy and anxiety, apathy is a behavioural dimension independent of depression.

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PubMed ID:: 17641527

DOI:: 10.1159/000105603

ScienceOpen disciplines: Chemistry

Keywords: Adult,Aged,Aged, 80 and over,Cohort Studies,Cross-Sectional Studies,Data Interpretation, Statistical,Dementia,drug therapy,epidemiology,psychology,Factor Analysis, Statistical,Female,Humans,Male,Middle Aged,Netherlands,Nursing Homes,Psychiatric Status Rating Scales,Psychotropic Drugs,therapeutic use

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Neuropsychiatric symptoms in nursing home patients: factor structure invariance of the Dutch nursing home version of the neuropsychiatric inventory in different stages of dementia.

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Karger: Neurology and Neuroscience

Most cited references 21

Which neuropsychiatric and behavioural features distinguish frontal and temporal variants of frontotemporal dementia from Alzheimer's disease?

Behaviour in frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

On the overlap between apathy and depression in dementia.

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