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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Longitudinal course of behavioral problems during Alzheimer's disease
— linear versus curvilinear patterns of decline | | Author(s) | Harry J McCarty, David L Roth, Kathryn T Goode |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 55A, no 4, April 2000 |
| Pages | pp M200-M206 |
| Keywords | Dementia ; Cognitive impairment ; Behaviour disorders ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are commonly assumed to experience a linear decline in behavioural functioning that parallels progressive cognitive decline. However, some researchers have suggested that specific behavioural problems either decline at different rates or improve in late dementia. The present analysis examined 150 AD patients at an initial assessment, 61 of whom were also evaluated annually on two further occasions. Cross-sectional results indicated curvilinear associations between dementia severity and certain behavioural problems (forgetful behaviours, and emotional and impulsive behaviours). Longitudinal analysis further indicated trends for curvilinear rates of behavioural disturbance across time, with some problem areas showing improvement as AD progresses through the most severe stages. Even though AD is a progressive dementia characterised by increasing cognitive deterioration, it appears to be inaccurate to expect behavioural functioning to show the same linear decline across time. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-000825212 A |
| Classmark | EA: E4: EP: 3J: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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