TY - JOUR
T1 - Alcohol, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease
T2 - Comparison of neuropsychological profiles
AU - Saxton, Judith
AU - Munro, Cynthia A.
AU - Butters, Meryl A.
AU - Schramke, Carol
AU - Mcneil, Melissa A.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - Thirty-nine detoxified elderly alcoholics (mean age = 65.85) completed a comprehensive assessment designed to identify individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for alcohol-related dementia. Ten subjects meeting criteria (mean age = 69.8; mean Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] = 25.1) were compared to the 29 nondemented alcoholics (mean age = 64.5; mean MMSE = 27.8), 9 patients with Alzheimer's disease (mean age = 73.4; mean MMSE = 22.3), and 15 control subjects (mean age = 70.8; mean MMSE = 28). Comparison of neuropsychological test scores revealed several statistically significant differences. Furthermore, the overall pattern of test performance between the two demented groups was different. Alzheimer's patients were more impaired on confrontation naming, recognition memory, animal fluency, and orientation. Alcohol dementia subjects were more impaired than controls on initial letter fluency, fine motor control, and free recall. However, alcohol dementia subjects did not differ from controls on tests of verbal recognition memory. This study suggests that it is possible to clinically differentiate the cognitive deficits of alcohol-related dementia from typical Alzheimer's disease. However, the results are preliminary and are based on small sample sizes so should be interpreted with caution.
AB - Thirty-nine detoxified elderly alcoholics (mean age = 65.85) completed a comprehensive assessment designed to identify individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for alcohol-related dementia. Ten subjects meeting criteria (mean age = 69.8; mean Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] = 25.1) were compared to the 29 nondemented alcoholics (mean age = 64.5; mean MMSE = 27.8), 9 patients with Alzheimer's disease (mean age = 73.4; mean MMSE = 22.3), and 15 control subjects (mean age = 70.8; mean MMSE = 28). Comparison of neuropsychological test scores revealed several statistically significant differences. Furthermore, the overall pattern of test performance between the two demented groups was different. Alzheimer's patients were more impaired on confrontation naming, recognition memory, animal fluency, and orientation. Alcohol dementia subjects were more impaired than controls on initial letter fluency, fine motor control, and free recall. However, alcohol dementia subjects did not differ from controls on tests of verbal recognition memory. This study suggests that it is possible to clinically differentiate the cognitive deficits of alcohol-related dementia from typical Alzheimer's disease. However, the results are preliminary and are based on small sample sizes so should be interpreted with caution.
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U2 - 10.1177/089198870001300308
DO - 10.1177/089198870001300308
M3 - Article
C2 - 11001137
AN - SCOPUS:0033736155
SN - 0891-9887
VL - 13
SP - 141
EP - 149
JO - Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
JF - Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
IS - 3
ER -