Early Noncognitive Change in Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Aging

Katherine V. Wild, Jeffrey A. Kaye, Barry S. Oken

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent studies in Alzheimer's disease have focused on behavioral disturbances in the more advanced stages of the illness rather than behavioral and personality changes occurring early in the disease course. We present a new instrument, the Oregon Noncognitive Inventory for Dementia (ONID), that was developed specifically for patients in the early stages of dementia, to identify subtle behavioral alterations that may precede the more severe cognitive changes of Alzheimer's disease. Mildly demented Alzheimer's patients were compared with age-matched healthy subjects on the ONID. Caregivers of these patients reported significantly more of the behaviors addressed by the ONID than did relatives of the healthy elderly. The results indicate that changes in behavior and personality can be reliably reported by family caregivers of patients with mild dementia. Future clinical applications of the ONID might include measuring change in drug trials, longitudinal studies of the progression of change, and differentiating Alzheimer's disease from other dementias based on a characteristic pattern of change.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)199-205
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1994

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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