Clinical predictors of somatic and psychological symptoms of depression in Alzheimer's disease
A. Troisi
Bok Engelsk
| Opplysninger | The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was employed to assess the se verity of somatic and psychological symptoms of depression in 42 outpatients with dementia of the Alzheimer type. The severity of somatic symptoms incre ased in the more severe stages of dementia whereas the severity of psycholog ical symptoms did not vary. Psychological symptoms were more severe in femal e patients and in patients with a better awareness of cognitive decline, In contrast, the degree of cognitive dysfunction was the only significant predi ctor of the severity of somatic symptoms. These results suggest that, in Alz heimer's disease, somatic symptoms are secondary to dementia rather than man ifestations of a coexistent depressive disorder and point to the limited val ue of the Hamilton scale for detecting depression in demented patients.
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