INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE COGNITIVE, BEHAVIORAL, AND EMOTIONAL HETEROGENEITY IN PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

This study sought to examine whether subtypes of patients with Alzheim er's Disease (AD) existed as measured by seven scales of the Cognitive Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS). Wards' method of cluster analysis was u sed to group 104 AD patients into subgroups. Three clusters were ident ified: (a) Moderately Impaired, (b) Severely Impaired, and (c) Emotion ally Intact. These clusters displayed more differences in symptom seve rity than type of symptom. Clusters could be partially defined by the amount of time since diagnosis, while differences in the clusters' pro file of scores had little or no descriptive utility. Results failed to support the existence of AD subtypes and yet did not follow the tradi tional ''stage'' descriptions of AD progression either. Findings are d iscussed within a modified ''phase'' description of AD progression.