An investigation on behavioral problems in centenarians

The characteristics of cognitive decline in extremely long-living people ar e not well defined. Our study have assessed the cognitive function and the presence of behavioral disturbances in a group of 42 centenarians, in order to contribute to a better understanding of the needs of centenarians. The mini mental state examination (MMSE), Alzheimer disease assessment scale-co gnitive (ADAS-Cog), and the empirical behavioral Alzheimer disease (Behave- AD) rating scale were the measures applied to this sample composed of 9 mal es and 33 females with a mean age of 101.7 +/- 1.6 (+/- SD), range 101-108 years. According to the Behave-AD scores, 42 % of these patients were class ified as having no behavioral impairment, 30 % were considered with mild im pairment, 21 % with a moderate impairment and 7 % with a severe impairment. The Behave-AD score was significantly correlated with the measures of cogn itive impairments indicating the multidimensional nature of this deteriorat ion which is evident at a clinical level in a sizeable number of individual s aged more than 100 years. The most frequent behavioral disturbances in th is sample are generalized anxiety and depression, while thought and sensori al alterations are less frequent.