Centre for Policy on Ageing



Delusions and hallucinations in Alzheimer's disease — results from a two-year longitudinal study
Author(s)	M Haupt, B Romero, A Kurz
Journal title	International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 11, no 11, November 1996
Pages	pp 965-972
Keywords	Dementia ; Delusion ; Perception disorders ; Symptoms ; Longitudinal surveys.
Annotation	In this study, psychotic symptoms were assessed by the BEHAVE-AD, which measures these symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Delusional symptoms were present in 50% of mildly impaired Alzheimer patients, decreased in frequency with ongoing disease process, and are associated with severity of cognitive and functional decline. Hallucinations occurred less frequently but increased within the disease course; their presence was not associated with the progression rate of the disease. The early presence of psychotic symptoms may help identify patients who experience a rampant symptom progression, have a greater risk for institutionalisation, and should be consequently treated pharmacologically and by counselling of the family's management of these non-cognitive disturbances.
Accession Number	CPA-970421015 A
Classmark	EA: EDD: EE: CT: 3J
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.