| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
BRIEF REPORT |
From the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey–School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford. Ms Gallo is also from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa.
Address correspondence to Anita Chopra, MD, Center for Aging, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey–School of Osteopathic Medicine, 42 E Laurel Rd, Suite 1800, Stratford, NJ 08084-1354. E-mail: chopraan{at}umdnj.edu
Objective: To determine the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms and the presence of medical illness among outpatients with mild dementia.
Method: The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) was used to assess neuropsychiatric symptoms, and the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS) was used to evaluate physical impairment, in 44 outpatients diagnosed as having dementia (Alzheimer disease, n=22; vascular dementia, n=13; mixed dementia, n=9). The tests used were standard parts of a memory assessment program at a college of osteopathic medicine. Pearson product moment correlations were used to assess any associations between NPI and CIRS scores.
Results: Significant associations were identified between several NPI-assessed symptoms and degree of medical illness as measured by the CIRS. Neurobehavioral problems were significantly correlated (P<.05) with illness in the following body organ systems: gastrointestinal (lower), genitourinary, neurologic, ophthalmologic/otolaryngologic, psychiatric, and respiratory.
Conclusion: The authors' preliminary data underscore the importance of primary care physicians assessing patients with dementia for comorbidity of psychiatric illnesses when conducting medical examinations.
Although physical and psychiatric comorbidities are known to exist in younger patients,5 the association between these two variables in older patients with dementia is not well understood or documented. Greater clarity regarding this association would have bearing on both diagnosis and intervention.
The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) assesses the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms among patients with dementia.6 The Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS) evaluates the degree of physical impairment in each of 13 body organ systems.7 To better understand the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms and medical illness, the NPI and the CIRS were administered to a sample of outpatients who had been diagnosed as having mild to moderate dementia.
 |
Methods |
|---|
 Top Methods ResultsCommentReferences |
|---|
Participants
A review of an existing Memory Assessment Program database was used to
identify 44 outpatients who had complete records of CIRS and NPI information.
These individuals were patients at the UMDNJ–SOM Center for Aging (now
the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging). All participants lived in the
local community and had been diagnosed as having mild to moderate dementia, as
defined by a score on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) between 15 and
25.8 Out of a total
possible score of 30, people with dementia typically have scores of 26 or less
on the MMSE.9 The
patients' dementia diagnoses included Alzheimer disease (n=22), vascular
dementia (n=13), and mixed dementia (n=9).
Measurements
The NPI assesses the frequency and severity of 12 neuropsychiatric
symptoms: aberrant motor behavior, agitation, anxiety, apathy, delusions,
depression, disinhibition, eating disturbances, euphoria, hallucinations,
irritability, and sleep
disturbances.6 The
score for each symptom is the product of the frequency (0, not at all; 1,
occasionally; 2, often; 3, frequently; 4, very frequently) and severity (1,
mild; 2, moderate; 3, severe) of the symptom. The total NPI score is the sum
of the 12 symptom product scores. A neuropsychologist (K.S. or D.J.L.) scored
the NPI ratings in the present study.
The CIRS assesses the degree of impairment in 13 body organ systems: cardiac, endocrine/metabolic, gastrointestinal (upper), gastrointestinal (lower), genitourinary, hepatic, musculoskeletal, neurologic, ophthalmologic/otolaryngologic, psychiatric, renal, respiratory, and vascular.7 Each system is assigned a value ranging from 0 (no impairment) to 4 (extremely severe). A total CIRS score is obtained by summing the scores for all 13 body systems. One of two geriatricians (P.T. or E.T.) completed all CIRS evaluations. Both physicians were blind to the neuropsychologists' assessments of NPI symptom severity. Likewise, the neuropsychologists were blind to the CIRS medical evaluations.
Statistical Analysis
Descriptive statistics, including mean scores and SDs, were calculated for
all demographic variables and the NPI and CIRS evaluations. Pearson product
moment correlations were used to assess the associations between individual
and total scores from the NPI and CIRS evaluations.
|
Results |
|---|
|
TopMethodsResultsCommentReferences |
|---|
Pearson Product Moment Correlations
Table shows
significant Pearson product moment correlational analyses between various body
organ systems as sites of illness (as indicated by CIRS scores) and various
neuropsychiatric symptoms (as indicated by NPI scores). The data reveal
significant correlations between disorders indicated by the CIRS psychiatric
examination and NPI-assessed symptoms of aberrant motor disturbance, anxiety,
depression, and irritability (all P<.05 except anxiety
[P<.01]). Significant correlations were also found between illness
indicated by the CIRS neurologic examination and the NPI-assessed symptoms of
apathy, eating disturbance, and irritability (apathy and irritability,
P<.05; eating disturbance, P<.01).
|
Respiratory disorders were significantly associated with euphoria, while ophthalmologic disorders were negatively correlated with anxiety (P<.05). Lower gastrointestinal disorders were significantly associated with euphoria, and genitourinary disorders were correlated with agitation (P<.05). Finally, the total CIRS score was significantly correlated with irritability (P<.05).
|
Comment |
|---|
|
TopMethodsResultsCommentReferences |
|---|
These findings may underscore the important role that primary care physicians can play in screening patients for neuropsychiatric illness when medical illnesses are present in the above-mentioned body organ systems. Primary care physicians are the patient's first line of care and are in the unique position of assessing and providing treatment for physical and neurobehavioral symptoms prior to referral for specialty care.
Furthermore, the recognition of comorbid neuropsychiatric and medical conditions in patients with dementia will likely assist the physician in diagnosis and treatment, which, in turn, can improve the quality of life for patients and their caregivers. For example, an elderly patient with dementia and a urinary tract infection may lack the ability to meaningfully express his or her physical discomfort and instead become agitated or irritable. Neuropsychiatric symptoms or an altered mental status may be the only symptoms indicative of an infection in an elderly patient. Thus, recognizing the association between agitation and potential genitourinary disease would alert the physician to a possible urinary tract infection, thereby facilitating medical treatment and reducing patient discomfort.
We acknowledge that the present study is preliminary in nature and not without limitations. First, our results are based on correlational analysis of data and, thus, do not imply a causal association between medical illness and neurobehavioral distress. Second, the study included a relatively small sample size of outpatients with dementia.
We look forward to our findings being replicated in other medical settings, such as an urgent care medical center or an inpatient hospital unit. It may be that a more acute setting will identify stronger correlations between medical illness and psychiatric symptoms.
|
References |
|---|
|
TopMethodsResultsCommentReferences |
|---|
2. Finkel SI, Costa e Silva J, Cohen G, Miller S, Sartorius N. Behavioral and psychological signs and symptoms of dementia: a consensus statement on current knowledge and implications for research and treatment [review]. Int Psychogeriatr.1996; 8(suppl 3):497 –500.
3. Steinberg M, Tschanz JT, Corcoran C, Steffens DC, Norton MC, Lyketsos CG, et al. The persistence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia: the Cache County Study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry.2004; 19:19 –26.[Medline]
4. Lyketsos CG, Galik E, Steele C, Steinberg M, Rosenblatt A, Warren A, et al. The General Medical Health Rating: a bedside global rating of medical comorbidity in patients with dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1999;47:487 –491.[Medline]
5. Kisely S, Goldberg DP. Physical and psychiatric comorbidity in
general practice. Br J Psychiatry.1996; 169:236
–242.
6. Cummings JL, Mega M, Gray K, Rosenberg-Thompson S, Carusi DA,
Gornbein J. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory: comprehensive assessment of
psychopathology in dementia. Neurology.1994; 44:2308
–2314.
7. Linn BS, Linn MW, Gurel L. Cumulative illness rating scale. J Am Geriatr Soc.1968; 16:622 –626.[Medline]
8. Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR. "Mini-mental state." A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res.1975; 12:189 –198.[Medline]
9. How is dementia diagnosed. Alzheimer's Society Web site. Available at: http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/How_is_dementia_diagnosed/Diagnosis_process/info_mmse.htm. Accessed May 26, 2006.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. A. Cavalieri Clinical care for an aging population: aging successfully in the 21st century. J Am Osteopath Assoc, July 1, 2006; 106(7): 384 - 386. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
