Faculty Articles

Title

The factor structure of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale in Alzheimer's disease

ISBN or ISSN

0891-9887

Publication Title

Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology

Volume

7

Issue

4

Publication Date / Copyright Date

10-1-1994

First Page

245

Last Page

250

Publisher

Sage Publications

Abstract

The factor structure of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) is well established with young psychiatric patients. A study by Overall and Beller showed, however, that its factor structure was different with geropsychiatric patients. Although the BPRS has been used in assessing the behavioral characteristics of patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), its factor structure has not been established with these patients. The present study investigated the factor structure of the BPRS among patients with clinically diagnosed AD by (NINCDS/ADRDA) criteria. The scale had limited usefulness with outpatients with mild AD. The factor structure obtained was similar to that found with other patient groups, but a unique factor, including the items Tension and Uncooperativeness, probably reflects the behavioral and psychological agitation characteristic of some AD patients. We recommend caution be taken in generalizing data from younger psychiatric samples to older adult patients with dementia.

Disciplines

Medical Specialties | Medicine and Health Sciences | Osteopathic Medicine and Osteopathy

Keywords

Adult, Aged, Alzheimer Disease, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales

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