Anxiety and depression in caregivers are associated with patient and caregiver characteristics in Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: The aim of this study is to know the prevalence of anxiety and depression in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and assess the association of caregiver burden (CB) with characteristics of both patients and caregivers.

Method: Sociodemographic and clinical variables have been obtained (patients: age, gender, marital status, years of education, duration and severity of dementia, psychiatric disorders, previous history, and use of psychoactive and antidementia drugs; caregivers: age, gender, relationship with patient, and marital status). Cognition was assessed with Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE); severity of dementia was assessed with Global Deterioration Scale (GDS); caregiver burden was assessed with Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the number of hours of attention to the basic activities of daily-living (H-BADL).

Can impairment in memory, language and executive functions predict neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD)? Findings from a cross-sectional study.

The authors performed a cross-sectional study to examine the relationship between specific cognitive domains and behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD) in 125 patients with probable AD. Cognitive deficits were evaluated with the mini mental state examination (MMSE), trail-making test (TMT), Rey auditory verbal learning test (RAVLT), and semantic fluency test (SFT) and phonemic fluency test (PhFT), whereas the neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI) was used to rate BPSD. Patients' performance in cognitive tests significantly correlated with total NPI scores (p<0.