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Estimating the Prevalence of Agitation in Community-Dwelling Persons With Alzheimer's Disease

Received August 14, 2000; revised December 8, 2000; accepted December 13, 2000. From the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego; and the Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. Address correspondence to Dr. Tractenberg, Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, Mail Code 0949, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0949. E-mail: rtracten{at}ucsd.edu

To estimate the prevalence of, and develop norms for, significant agitation in community-dwelling persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the authors applied three different criteria to persons with AD (n=235) and normal elderly control subjects (NEC; n=64). The criteria were used to identify the minimum total score on the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) that represents significant or "excessive" agitation and to estimate its prevalence. The "ultraliberal" criterion resulted in 99.1% of persons with AD and 56.6% of NEC being classified as "excessively" disturbed. The "liberal" and "conservative" criteria classified 66.7% and 68.2% of persons with AD, and no NEC, as "excessively" disturbed. The authors conclude that the best estimate of prevalence of excessive agitation in this population is 67.5%, and that individuals with CMAI scores of 0 to 14 probably should not be considered to have excessive agitation.

Key Words: Alzheimer's Disease • Agitation

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