The personality traits of a demented patient at presentation may suggest Dementia with Lewy Bodies rather than Alzheimer's disease. The authors are from Washington University in St Louis.
Personality traits associated with dementia with Lewy bodies:
(1) visual hallucinations
(2) auditory hallucinations
(3) diminished emotional responsiveness (flattening)
(4) giving up hobbies
(5) increasing apathy
(6) purposeless hyperactivity
where:
• Items 3 through 6 are the Passive personality factors from the Blessed Dementia Rating Scale.
Other findings seen in dementia with Lewy bodies:
(1) increased egocentricity
(2) loss of concern for others
Performance:
• The area under the ROC curve for distinguishing dementia with Lewy bodies from Alzheimer's disease was 0.61, which is fairly low.
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Specialty: Neurology
