Clinical characteristics of community-dwelling black Alzheimer's disease patients

There is a relative dearth of studies examining the cognitive and neuropsyc hiatric features of black Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in the United S tates. Therefore, this cross-sectional investigation reported on the preval ence and clinical correlates of depression and psychosis in a community-dwe lling black AD sample. The study participants comprised 55 English-speaking black patients evaluated consecutively at a university-affiliated memory d isorders clinic. All patients were evaluated utilizing standardized procedu res and diagnosed with possible or probable AD according to the criteria es tablished by the National institute of Neurological and Communicative Disea ses and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association. The p resence of neuropsychiatric symptoms, including major depression and psycho sis (delusions or hallucinations) was established via a semistructured psyc hiatric interview with the patient and primary care giver. The level of glo bal cognitive impairment was rated with the Mini-Mental State Examination. The results showed that major depression and psychosis were observed in 20% and 58% of the sample, respectively. Mood disturbance was linked with low education, whereas psychosis was associated with greater cognitive dysfunct ion. This study provides important insight into the clinical characteristic s of community-dwelling black AD patients. it is clear that continued resea rch in the area of ethnicity and dementia is warranted to better understand the clinical needs of blacks and other minority populations in the United States that are afflicted with AD.