A pilot study of behavioural and psychological signs and symptoms of dementia in patients of Indian sub‐continent origin admitted to a dementia day hospital in the United Kingdom

Abstract

There is a paucity of cross-cultural studies of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). BPSD were examined in a consecutive series of Indian sub-continent origin and white indigenous elders admitted to a dementia day hospital using the BEHAVE-AD. The correlates of individual BPSD in each of the two ethnic groups and the differences between the two ethnic groups were examined. There were no differences between the two groups on most of the demographic and clinical variables examined, except that Indian sub-continent elders had a greater number of children. There were no differences between the two groups on the MMSE scores, BEHAVE-AD total scores and BEHAVE-AD subscale scores (with one exception). Indian sub- continent origin patients had lower scores on the anxiety and phobias subscale. Within the Indian sub-continent origin group, Alzheimer's disease (AD) was associated with activity disturbance and vascular dementia with affective disturbance. Within the indigenous group, aggressivity was associated with males and prescription of neuroleptics, and affective disturbance with prescription of antidepressants. There is a need to develop and evaluate translated versions of instruments that measure BPSD. After development of these instruments there is a need for cross-cultural population-based epidemiological studies of BPSD.