A prospective 5-year follow-up study on the behavioral disturbances of community-dwelling elderly people with Alzheimer disease

The aim of the present study was to determine the longitudinal course of be havioral disturbances and to examine whether these disturbances are stage d ependent during the course of Alzheimer disease (AD). One hundred seven com munity-dwelling patients with probable AD were assessed up to six times ann ually by using a validated and reliable rating scale, the Troublesome Behav ior Scale, for assessing the frequencies of behavioral disturbances. The su bjects were divided into three groups according to their baseline global fu nction as assessed by the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR; 1 = mild, 2 = mode rate, 3 = severe). At the end of the 5-year observation period, 3 1 subject s were still active participants, 52 had died, 20 lived in institutions, an d 4 had stopped participating. The patterns of their behavioral disturbance changes depended to a considerable extent on the baseline severity of the illness. The behavioral disturbance frequencies generally peaked at the CDR 2 stage and followed a downward trend thereafter. Considerable individual variations in the disturbance frequencies during the course of the illness were observed. Knowing the behavioral course of AD will enable clinicians t o better counsel families and appraise the results of treatments for behavi oral symptoms.