| Behavioral disturbances commonly accompany dementia and represent a serious public health issue. The two most common forms of dementia are Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). Using extant data from a population-based study, we examined the prevalence of behavioral disturbances across stages of dementia severity, their co-occurrence with other psychiatric symptoms, and their association with medical and health-related risk factors.; In both AD and VaD, various behavioral disturbances were found to occur most commonly at specific stages of dementia severity. The majority of symptoms were found to co-occur with one another in AD, while fewer symptoms were found to co-occur in VaD. History of medical and health-related conditions increased the risk for behavioral disturbances. Knowledge gained from this study will inform the development of clinical profiles for behavioral disturbances in dementia and assist clinicians, caregivers, and patients in minimizing associated health risks. |
