J Korean Neurol Assoc.
2006 Aug;24(4):337-346.
The Differences of Clinical Features between Alzheimer's Disease and Vascular Dementia According to Progression
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Neurology, Gimhae Hansol Hospital, Gimhae, Korea.
- 2Department of Social Welfare, Kyung Sung University, Busan, Korea.
- 3Department of Neurology, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
- 4Department of Neurology, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea. jwkim@mail.donga.ac.kr
- 5Department of Neurology, Busan Medical Center, Busan, Korea.
- 6Department of Family Stuides, Silla University, Busan, Korea.
- 7Department of Neurology, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
- 8Department of Neurology, Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine, Masan Samsung Hospital, Masan, Korea.
- 9Department of Neurology, Masan Taebong Hospital, Masan, Korea.
- 10Department of Neurology, Dong-eui Medical Center, Busan, Korea.
- 11Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea.
- 12Department of Neurology, Maryknoll Hospital, Busan, Korea.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: The differences in clinical features are important when differentiating between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD). There have been many studies comparing the severity of progression in both diseases. They have assessed individual symptoms but have not explained the differences and global change of progression comprehensively. We have evaluated the cognitive and non-cognitive functions at the same time and evaluated the differences between AD and VD.
METHODS
One hundred and thirty-eight dementia patients from Busan?Gyeongnam Dementia Association outpatient clinics were analyzed. All of the patients underwent the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE), the expanded version of the Korean Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR), the Korean version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI), the scales for activity of daily living, and the Short form of the Samsung Dementia Questionnaire (S-SDQ).
RESULTS
There were 93 patients with AD and 45 with VD. VD patients revealed more severe Barthel Index of Activity of Daily Living (B-ADL) deficits. AD patients had more severe memory and orientation deficiency in CDR 1 and CDR 2. VD patients revealed much faster decline of K-MMSE score between CDR 2 and CDR 3.
CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that VD patients display more severe B-ADL difficulty, while AD patients display more severe memory difficulty and disorientation. B-ADL progresses in the earlier stages in VD and in the later stages in AD. Global cognitive dysfunction progression is the opposite: in the earlier stages in AD and in the later stages in VD.
