All Is Not Lost: Positive Behaviors in Alzheimer's Disease and Behavioral-Variant Frontotemporal Dementia with Disease Severity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Anecdotal evidence indicates that some patients with dementia exhibit novel or increased positive behaviors, such as painting or singing, after the disease onset. Due to the lack of objective measures, however, the frequency and nature of these changes has not been formally investigated.

Objective

This study aimed to systematically identify changes in these behaviors in the two most common younger-onset dementia syndromes: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).

Methods

Sixty-three caregivers of patients with dementia (32 caregivers of AD patients and 31 caregivers of bvFTD patients) participated in the study. Caregivers rated the presence and frequency of positive and negative behavior changes after the onset of dem

SUBMITTER: Midorikawa A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5026134 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature