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Prevalence and implications of psychopathological non‐cognitive symptoms in dementia
Author(s) -
Saz P.,
LópezAntón R.,
Dewey M. E.,
Ventura T.,
Martín A.,
Marcos G.,
De La Cámara C.,
Quintanilla M. A.,
Quetglas B.,
Bel M.,
Barrera A.,
Lobo A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2008.01280.x
Subject(s) - dementia , apathy , psychopathology , anhedonia , cognition , psychiatry , population , medicine , vascular dementia , psychology , clinical psychology , disease , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , environmental health
Objective: Clinical experience and recent population studies suggest that psychopathological, non‐cognitive symptoms are both frequent and relevant in dementia. Method: A representative community sample ( n = 4,803 individuals, 55 + years) was interviewed in a two‐phase design. The Geriatric Mental Sate (GMS) was used for assessment and cases were diagnosed according to DSM‐IV‐TR criteria. Results: The prevalence of non‐cognitive symptoms (1 + symptoms) in cases of dementia ( n = 223) was 90.1%, and negative‐type symptoms were most frequently found. A GMS ‘apathy‐related symptom cluster’ (anergia, restriction of activities and anhedonia) was significantly more frequent in the demented (55.6%) than in non‐cases (0.7%; specificity = 99.2%). In both dementia of Alzheimer’s type and vascular dementia, number of symptoms tended to be inversely related to severity of dementia, but psychopathological profiles differed. Conclusion: Non‐cognitive, negative‐type symptoms are very frequent in cases of dementia living in the community. They have powerful specificity in the distinction with non‐cases, and might change current concepts of dementia.