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Neuropsychiatric and Cognitive Symptoms Across the Alzheimer Disease Clinical Spectrum: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Associations

Eikelboom, Willem S. ; van den Berg, Esther ; Singleton, Ellen H. ; Baart, Sara J. ; Coesmans, Michiel ; Leeuwis, Annebet E. ; Teunissen, Charlotte E. ; van Berckel, Bart N.M. ; Pijnenburg, Yolande A.L. and Scheltens, Philip , et al. (2021) In Neurology 97(13). p.1276-1287
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence and trajectories of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in relation to cognitive functioning in a cohort of β-amyloid-positive (A+) individuals across the Alzheimer disease (AD) clinical spectrum. METHODS: In this single-center observational study, we included all individuals who visited the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam and had a clinical diagnosis of subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or probable AD dementia and were A+. We measured NPS with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), examining total scores and the presence of specific NPI domains. Cognition was assessed across 5 cognitive domains and with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We examined... (More)
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence and trajectories of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in relation to cognitive functioning in a cohort of β-amyloid-positive (A+) individuals across the Alzheimer disease (AD) clinical spectrum. METHODS: In this single-center observational study, we included all individuals who visited the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam and had a clinical diagnosis of subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or probable AD dementia and were A+. We measured NPS with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), examining total scores and the presence of specific NPI domains. Cognition was assessed across 5 cognitive domains and with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We examined trajectories including model-based trends for NPS and cognitive functioning over time. We used linear mixed models to relate baseline NPI scores to cognitive functioning at baseline (whole-sample) and longitudinal time points (subsample n = 520, mean 1.8 [SD 0.7] years follow-up). RESULTS: We included 1,524 A+ individuals from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort with A+ SCD (n = 113), A+ MCI (n = 321), or A+ AD dementia (n = 1,090). NPS were prevalent across all clinical AD stages (≥1 NPS 81.4% in SCD, 81.2% in MCI, 88.7% in dementia; ≥1 clinically relevant NPS 54.0% in SCD, 50.5% in MCI, 66.0% in dementia). Cognitive functioning showed a uniform gradual decline; while in contrast, large intraindividual heterogeneity of NPS was observed over time across all AD groups. At baseline, we found associations between NPS and cognition in dementia that were most pronounced for NPI total scores and MMSE (range β = -0.18 to -0.11, false discovery rate [FDR]-adjusted p < 0.05), while there were no cross-sectional relationships in SCD and MCI (range β = -0.32 to 0.36, all FDR-adjusted p > 0.05). There were no associations between baseline NPS and cognitive functioning over time in any clinical stage (range β = -0.13 to 0.44, all FDR-adjusted p > 0.05). DISCUSSION: NPS and cognitive symptoms are both prevalent across the AD clinical spectrum, but show a different evolution during the course of the disease. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Neurology
volume
97
issue
13
pages
1276 - 1287
publisher
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
external identifiers
  • scopus:85117739839
  • pmid:34413181
ISSN
1526-632X
DOI
10.1212/WNL.0000000000012598
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fc409cd3-1a0d-4de9-9d85-564e4ea79ce9
date added to LUP
2021-11-22 11:26:23
date last changed
2024-06-16 23:33:00
@misc{fc409cd3-1a0d-4de9-9d85-564e4ea79ce9,
  abstract     = {{BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence and trajectories of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in relation to cognitive functioning in a cohort of β-amyloid-positive (A+) individuals across the Alzheimer disease (AD) clinical spectrum. METHODS: In this single-center observational study, we included all individuals who visited the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam and had a clinical diagnosis of subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or probable AD dementia and were A+. We measured NPS with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), examining total scores and the presence of specific NPI domains. Cognition was assessed across 5 cognitive domains and with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We examined trajectories including model-based trends for NPS and cognitive functioning over time. We used linear mixed models to relate baseline NPI scores to cognitive functioning at baseline (whole-sample) and longitudinal time points (subsample n = 520, mean 1.8 [SD 0.7] years follow-up). RESULTS: We included 1,524 A+ individuals from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohort with A+ SCD (n = 113), A+ MCI (n = 321), or A+ AD dementia (n = 1,090). NPS were prevalent across all clinical AD stages (≥1 NPS 81.4% in SCD, 81.2% in MCI, 88.7% in dementia; ≥1 clinically relevant NPS 54.0% in SCD, 50.5% in MCI, 66.0% in dementia). Cognitive functioning showed a uniform gradual decline; while in contrast, large intraindividual heterogeneity of NPS was observed over time across all AD groups. At baseline, we found associations between NPS and cognition in dementia that were most pronounced for NPI total scores and MMSE (range β = -0.18 to -0.11, false discovery rate [FDR]-adjusted p &lt; 0.05), while there were no cross-sectional relationships in SCD and MCI (range β = -0.32 to 0.36, all FDR-adjusted p &gt; 0.05). There were no associations between baseline NPS and cognitive functioning over time in any clinical stage (range β = -0.13 to 0.44, all FDR-adjusted p &gt; 0.05). DISCUSSION: NPS and cognitive symptoms are both prevalent across the AD clinical spectrum, but show a different evolution during the course of the disease.}},
  author       = {{Eikelboom, Willem S. and van den Berg, Esther and Singleton, Ellen H. and Baart, Sara J. and Coesmans, Michiel and Leeuwis, Annebet E. and Teunissen, Charlotte E. and van Berckel, Bart N.M. and Pijnenburg, Yolande A.L. and Scheltens, Philip and van der Flier, Wiesje M. and Ossenkoppele, Rik and Papma, Janne M.}},
  issn         = {{1526-632X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{13}},
  pages        = {{1276--1287}},
  publisher    = {{Lippincott Williams & Wilkins}},
  series       = {{Neurology}},
  title        = {{Neuropsychiatric and Cognitive Symptoms Across the Alzheimer Disease Clinical Spectrum: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Associations}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000012598}},
  doi          = {{10.1212/WNL.0000000000012598}},
  volume       = {{97}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}