An Itemized Approach to Assessing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia

• Published in: American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 163 - 168
• Main Authors: Gallo, Jennifer L., Schmidt, Kara S., Libon, David J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2009
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - complications; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Dementia, Vascular - complications; Dementia, Vascular - psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - etiology; Mood Disorders - diagnosis; Mood Disorders - etiology; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis; Psychotic Disorders - etiology; BPSD; Alzheimer disease; vascular dementia; neurobehavioral symptoms
• ISSN: 1533-3175; 1938-2731
• DOI: 10.1177/1533317508329480

In an effort to obtain more detailed clinical information regarding behavioral and psychology symptoms in dementia, we submitted an existing, comprehensive measure of behavioral and psychology symptoms in dementia (Neuropsychiatric Inventory) to an alternate itemized scoring system. One hundred twenty-four caregivers of patients with dementia (mean Mini-Mental State Examination = 22.6) rated the frequency of individual symptoms across all domains of the measure. Internal reliability and factor structures for all domains were analyzed to assess the stability of this scoring approach. Internal consistency alphas for each domain ranged from .57 to .91. Alpha reliability for the total inventory was .96. Results indicate an itemized approach to assessing behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia among patients with mild-to-moderate dementia can be reliable, has the power to capture multiple features of neuropsychiatric symptoms, and can produce a rich neurobehavioral profile adding valuable information to the diagnosis and treatment of these patients.