Contribution of Psychosis and Depression to Behavioral Disturbances in Geropsychiatric Inpatients With Dementia

Abstract

Both depressive and psychotic symptoms were associated with overall behavioral disturbances in patients with dementia. Psychotic symptoms and depressive symptoms were associated with different types of behavioral disturbances. Our findings support the contention that underlying depression or psychosis may partially account for different behavioral disturbances and that not all behavioral disturbances should be globally labeled "agitation." Future studies should address symptom-specific treatment of behaviorally disturbed patients.

Relationship between aggressive behaviors and depression among nursing home residents with dementia

“…They felt that this may be because residents with mild impairment are better able to communicate their needs and their depressed mood than residents with severe dementia. Other studies have evaluated patients admitted to an inpatient psychogeriatric unit (Kunik et al, 1999) and patients enrolled in an outpatient dementia evaluation and treatment clinic (Lyketsos et al, 1999). In a study of 208 patients with dementia admitted to a psychogeriatric unit, Kunik et al (1999) found that verbal and physical aggression were not correlated with depression.…”

“…Other studies have evaluated patients admitted to an inpatient psychogeriatric unit (Kunik et al, 1999) and patients enrolled in an outpatient dementia evaluation and treatment clinic (Lyketsos et al, 1999). In a study of 208 patients with dementia admitted to a psychogeriatric unit, Kunik et al (1999) found that verbal and physical aggression were not correlated with depression. Depression was rated by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and agitation was measured by the Cohen-Mans®eld Agitation Inventory.…”

Behavioral profile of Alzheimer's disease in Chinese elderly – a validation study of the Chinese version of the Alzheimer's disease behavioral pathology rating scale

“…Under the current de®nition, BPSD refers to a collective cluster of behavioral manifestations found in patients with dementia. However, the relationships between different behavioral domains have not been well de®ned (Frisoni et al, 1999;Kunik et al, 1999;Teri et al, 1999;Trabucchi et al, 1999). Individual symptom may be dependent on one another.…”

Psychosis and Antipsychotic Medications in Alzheimer’s Disease: Clinical Management and Research Perspectives

“…Characteristic symptoms in patients with AD are listed in table 1. Delusions occur in approximately 30-40% of patients with AD [7][8][9], fluctuate over time but often persist [10,11], and are associated with aggressive behavior [12][13][14][15] and rapid cognitive decline [9]. Hallucinations occur in approximately 5-20% of patients with AD [8,10,16,17], although the proportion varies considerably across studies.…”