A comparative analysis of clinical manifestations of Alzheimer's disease patients and Lewy body dementia patients / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare cognitive ,behavioral ,and psychological symptoms observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD ) and dementia with Lewy body (DLB ) in order to provide helpful information for differential diagnosis. Methods We selected 215 patients with AD (AD group)and 66 patients with DLB(DLB group)to retrospectively analyzed their general information ,family history , and disease history.The Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE scale)was used to evaluate cognitive abilities and Neuropsychiatric Inventory ( NPI scale ) was used for analysis of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in both groups. Results The prevalence of hypertension was higher in the AD group(52.6%,n＝113)than in the DLB group(40%,n＝24)(P＜0.05).The DLB group showed better general cognitive scores ,disorientation scores ,immediate recall scores ,and delayed recall scores than the AD group. Fluctuating cognitive deficiencies and Parkinson's symptoms were more prevalent in the DLB group than in the AD group with 2 patients (0.9%) showing fluctuating cognitive deficiencies in the AD group ,and 19(28.8%)in the DLB group(χ2＝8.580 ,P＝0.003) ;with 26 patients(12.1%)showing Parkinson's symptoms in the AD group and 25(37.9%)in the DLB group(χ2＝ 22.602 ,P＝ 0.000).As to behavioral and psychological symptoms ,the DLB group had higher scores in total NPI ,hallucinations and nighttime abnormal behaviors with 32 patients (14.9%)showing hallucinations and 64 (29.8%)showing nighttime abnormal behaviors in the AD group ;30(46.2%)showing hallucinations and 30 (46.2%)showing nighttime abnormal behaviors in the DLB group (all P ＜ 0.05 ) . Conclusions Hypertension is more prevalent in AD patients. Fluctuating cognitive deficiencies ,Parkinson's symptoms ,hallucinations ,and nighttime abnormal behaviors are prominent manifestations in DLB patients.