This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective: To determine whether certain aspects of fluctuations reliably distinguish dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and normal aging.
Methods: Participants included 200 community-dwelling cognitively normal elderly persons, 70 DLB patients, and 70 AD patients with collateral informants. A 19-item questionnaire was administered to the informants that queried about symptoms of fluctuations and delirium.
Results: Fluctuations occur infrequently in nondemented elderly persons aged 58 to 98 years. In contrast, four characteristics of fluctuations were found to significantly differentiate AD from DLB. These composite features include daytime drowsiness and lethargy, daytime sleep of 2 or more hours, staring into space for long periods, and episodes of disorganized speech. The presence of three or four features of this composite occurred in 63% of DLB patients compared with 12% of AD patients and 0.5% of normal elderly persons. Informant endorsement of three or four of these items yielded a positive predictive value of 83% for the clinical diagnosis of DLB against an alternate diagnosis of AD. Endorsement of fewer than three items had a negative predictive value of 70% for the absence of a clinical diagnosis of DLB in favor of AD. The authors present evidence of test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and empirical verification with a separate cross-validation sample. Fluctuations were not associated with any particular combination of hallucinations, parkinsonism, or REM sleep behavior disorder.
Conclusions: Based on informant report, disturbed arousal and disorganized speech are specific aspects of fluctuations in dementia with Lewy bodies that reliably distinguish dementia with Lewy bodies from Alzheimer’s disease and normal aging.
- Received April 18, 2003.
- Accepted October 28, 2003.
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Association of Neurofilament Light With the Development and Severity of Parkinson Disease
Dr. Rodolfo Savica and Dr. Parichita Choudhury
► Watch
Alert Me
Recommended articles
Diagnostic utility of abbreviated fluency measures in Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia
A total score for the CERAD neuropsychological battery
Subscores of the FAB differentiate frontotemporal lobar degeneration from AD
Regional cerebral glucose metabolism in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease