Changes in emotional and behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Emotional distress and disruptive behaviors were assessed for 26 persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) at admission to a research registry and again three years later. Average prevalence of disruptive behaviors increased, as did the variability among patients in these characteristics. Individual differences in disruptive symptoms at initial assessment were unrelated to symptom status three years later. Emotional symptoms decreased on average and the patient group became more homogeneous in this symptom dimension. Nonetheless, individual differences in prevalence showed significant stability over three years. These differences in pattern of average change and predictability of changes suggest the importance of studying behavioral change in Alzheimer's disease in terms of individual differences as well as group trends within specific symptom clusters.