Neuropsychiatric symptoms in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease: Relation with disease stage, sex, and daily function impairment

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundTo reveal the relations between neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), stages of cognitive impairment, sex, and daily function impairment in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).Method1,154 patients with MCI and AD were enrolled from 2014 to 2021 from the Memory Clinic, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. Mini‐mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to assess the cognitive function, and Clinical dementia rating scale (CDR) was used to evaluate the disease severity of patients. NPS and function of patients’ daily life were evaluated by Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and activities of daily living (ADL) respectively.ResultPsychosis symptoms displayed the highest prevalence in MCI (43.3%) and mild AD stage (62.2%), while in moderate and severe AD, behavior symptoms showed its dominance (86.7% and 96.4%, respectively). Delusion, apathy, AMB and sleep disturbance were the discriminant symptoms across the spectrum of cognitive decline (all P <0.05). Depression was more prominent in female (26.1% vs. 14.9% in MCI; 40.2% vs. 21.0% in AD, all P< 0.05) while male patients presented higher prevalence in apathy (27.0% vs. 18.6% in MCI; 54.1% vs. 42.8% in AD, all P< 0.05). Physical self‐maintenance was negatively impacted by apathy and sleep disturbance at mild AD stage, while instrumental activity of daily living was significantly influenced by aberrant motor behavior in MCI and mild AD (all P< 0.05).ConclusionThe prevalence of NPS is correlated with sex, the stage of cognitive impairment and daily living function. Revealing their relations can allow he development of better prevention and treatment strategies for patients with cognitive impairment.