Association between subclinical epileptiform discharge and the behavioral and psychological symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's dementia.

OBJECTIVES: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are highly prevalent in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), causing burdens on caregivers. Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and subclinical epileptiform discharge (SED) increased with the disease course of AD. However, the interaction between them was still unknown. The present study aimed to evaluate the associations between SED and BPSD.

METHODS/DESIGN: Patients with AD from Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-tung Hospital were included in this study. International 10-20 system scalp electroencephalography (EEG) for 13 min was performed to detect SED. Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia was assessed by neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI) questionnaires. The occurrence of BPSD subsyndromes was compared between patients with and without SED.

RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-three adult patients qualified for the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in this study. The mean age of patients was 80.2 years, and approximately 62% were women. 17.1% of patients showed SED on EEG. Apathy was the most commonly reported BPSD subsyndrome in this cohort. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of BPSD between patients with and without SED. (75.6% vs. 67.4%, p = 0.2806). However, the NPI score of irritability subsyndrome was significantly higher in the SED (+) group (2.6 ± 3.7 vs. 1.2 ± 2.7, p = 0.0028). In addition, subclinical epileptiform discharge in the frontal lobe was associated with a considerably higher occurrence of hyperactivity subsyndrome, including irritability.

CONCLUSIONS: SED may not be a direct cause of BPSD, but the presence of SED may affect the manifestation of BPSD.