Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms: Prevalence and Order of Appearance

Primary caregivers of 115 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease completed a questionnaire about 25 behavioral symptoms and their order of appearance. The symptom list was derived from the behavioral characteristics described in the Global Deterioration Scale for quantifying severity of dementia. Of interest was the relation between symptom prevalence and appearance order. Using statistical techniques for correlating ranks, symptom prevalence was found to be highly predictive of average rank of appearance for all patients and the subgroup in whom the symptoms were reported. Results of an agglomerative cluster analysis provided no evidence of subpopulations of patients in whom symptom appearance differed markedly. Complaint of memory problems or memory-related deficits were four of the six most prevalent symptoms and complaint of memory problems was the first appearing symptom. Less prevalent and later- appearing symptoms included movement disorder, lack of awareness of surroundings, and incontinence.