Chia-Yih Liu
Department of Psychiatry Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
Hsiu-Chih Liu
The Neurological Institute Taipei Veterans General Hospital
Noncognitive symptoms are commonly reported in patients with Alzheimer’s disease(AD). They cause dysphoria of the patient, and are major sources of caregiver stress. Depression, delusions, misidentifications, hallucinations, sleep disturbance, aggression, apathy, eating disorders, inappropriate sexual behaviors, wandering, are all considered as noncognitive symptoms. Noncognitive symptoms can be found in up to 70-80 % of AD patients during the course of illness. They are important contributors to the decision to institutionalize the AD patients. In the present article, the authors reviewed the literature on this issue. Data from two research teams in Taiwan: Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei (leaded by Professor Jen-Ping Hwang), and Neurological Institute, Veterans General Hospital–Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Joint Program (leaded by Professor Hsiu-Chih Liu) are also discussed.
Keywords: dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), noncognitive symptoms, behavioral symptoms