The relationship between the premorbid personality traits and the behavioral and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer disease

AimIn this study, we have aimed to investigate the relationship between the premorbid personality traits and the behavioral and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer disease.Method147 dementia patients who have attended to Geriatric Psychiatry Department of Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty have been selected randomly. Out of these patients, 45 Alzheimer type dementia patients whose family members or a relative could be reached are included in the study. Relatives of each patient have been asked to fill in the Munich Personality Test (MPT) - relatives form for the purpose of assessment of premorbid personality traits of the subjects.ResultsIt could be stated that high level of premorbid isolation tendency and schizoidia scores are the predictors of hallucinations and aggression. Low level of premorbid frustration tolerance is found to be associated with the present anxiety and the higher Behave-AD general assessment scores.ConclusionWe conclude that certain premorbid personality traits could be a risk factor for the later development of behavioral and psychological symptoms in Alzheimer's disease or that psychopathologic symptoms could actually be exaggerations or morbid distortions of lifelong behavioral tendencies, and it may also be explained by reflection of neuropathological processes occurring in brain in dementia onto clinic practice, in reliance upon detection of similar findings in studies conducted on different types of dementia and in different cultures. Advanced studies conducted on a sufficient number of subjects in prospective design within a biopsychosociocultural model are needed.