PERSONALITY CHANGES IN NORMAL AND COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED ELDERLY - INFORMANT REPORTS IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE

Personality changes are included in the DSM-III-R and ICD-10 criteria for diagnosis of dementia. However, until quite recently, dementia res earch has emphasized cognitive decline, with little interest being sho wn in personality change. Recent studies looking at personality change s in dementia have usually used small clinical samples. In the study r eported here, such changes have been assessed in a community sample of persons over 70 years. Information was obtained from a close relative or friend. A single dimension of personality change was found. There was a moderate but significant correlation between personality change and cognitive change. Reports of personality change were also correlat ed to neurotic symptoms in the informant. Personality change was unrel ated to the gender of the informant, the relationship of the informant to their relative or whether they lived with their relative. Also, th ere was no association between personality change and the elderly subj ect's age, gender or level of education. Through logistic regression, the neurotic symptom score of the informant was found to be the best p redictor of reported personality change. This suggests that caution ma y be needed in interpreting information about personality change obtai ned from informants.