Comparison of cognitive functions and behavioral and psychological symptoms between Parkinson disease with dementia and Alzheimer disease / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare the cognitive functions and behavioral and psychological symptoms between Parkinson disease with dementia(PDD)and Alzheimer disease(AD). Methods Seventy-five cases with AD and 63 cases with PDD were recruited in this study. The mini mental state examination (MMSE), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA)and activities of daily living scale (ADL)were used to evaluate the cognitive impairment.The Chinese version of neuropsychiatric questionnaire(CNPI)was used to measure behavioral and psychological symptoms. Results ①Cognitive assessments:there were no statistically significant differences in total MMSE scores,total MoCA scores,total CNPI scores and ADL scores between AD patients and PDD patients (P>0.05).The sub-items of MoCA showed that memory loss was more severe in AD patients(2.17±0.65)than in PDD patients(2.44±0.50)(P<0.01).Visuospatial/executive dysfunction was more severe in PDD patients(3.73±0.70)than in AD patients(4.01±0.76)(P<0.05).②The items of CNPI showed that ADD patients had lower scores in the items of CNPI compared with the PDD patients (15.31±3.16 vs 19.41±3.52). The sub-items of CNPI showed that the most common mental symptoms in PDD patients were hallucination, depression, and agitation, which were 55.6%, 54%, and 52.4%, respectively Compared with the AD patients (P<0.05). On the contrary, compared with PDD patients, the most common mental symptoms were anxiety, apathy and irritability in AD patients, which were 53.3%, 52% and 49.3%, respectively (P<0.05). Conclusion Patients with AD and PDD exhibit different characteristics in cognitive functions and behavioral and psychological symptoms.Neuropsychological tests combined with clinical history can be helpful for differentiation between AD and PDD in dementia patients.