Faculty Articles
Title
Concomitants of visual hallucinations in Alzheimer's disease
ISBN or ISSN
0028-3878
Publication Title
Neurology
Volume
44
Issue
3 Pt 1
Publication Date / Copyright Date
3-1-1994
First Page
523
Last Page
527
Publisher
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Abstract
Visual hallucinations (VH) are the most common hallucinations in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but their relationships with other behavioral symptoms and measures of cognitive performance are unclear. Using the BE-HAVE/AD, a semistructured behavioral inventory, we identified 20/160 AD patients (13%) who were currently having VH. Patients with VH performed worse on the Mini-Mental State Examination and had more behavioral symptoms than patients without VH. Symptoms particularly associated with VH included auditory hallucinations, verbal outbursts, delusions, and paranoid ideation. Principal factor analysis of the BEHAVE/AD yielded four factors accounting for 47% of the total variance. VH loaded on two factors involving symptoms of "paranoia" and "agitation/hallucinations." Our findings suggest that VH in AD patients are common, often occur in the presence of specific behavioral disturbances, and may have management implications.
Disciplines
Medical Specialties | Medicine and Health Sciences | Osteopathic Medicine and Osteopathy
Keywords
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Female, Hallucinations, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Visual Perception
NSUWorks Citation
Lerner, A J.; Koss, E; Patterson, M B.; Ownby, Raymond L.; Hedera, P; Friedland, R P.; and Whitehouse, P J., "Concomitants of visual hallucinations in Alzheimer's disease" (1994). Faculty Articles. 45.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_com_faculty_articles/45
