Abstract Background The Huntington's Disease Behavioral Questionnaire (HD‐BQ) captures behavioral symptoms arising from cognitive, psychiatric, and functional domains. Recognizing the high prevalence of anosognosia in HD, the HD‐BQ incorporates patient‐ and companion‐reported versions. Objective Examine the utility of the HD‐BQ in capturing behavioral symptoms in HD. Methods The HD‐BQ was administered to 71 manifest HD patients and their companions, plus 71 healthy controls (HC). Differences in HD‐BQ scores were examined using Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed‐ranks tests. Results HD patients reported more severe behavioral symptoms than HC ( p < 0.001). Companions reported more widespread and severe symptoms than patients ( Z = −3.7, p < 0.001). The largest discrepancies were observed for cognitive items—difficulty shifting thoughts or activities ( p < 0.001), concentrating ( p = 0.002), keeping track of commitments ( p = 0.006), judgment ( p = 0.004), and indecisiveness ( p = 0.022). Conclusions The HD‐BQ captures a wide range of behavioral disturbances in HD. Companions consistently reported more frequent and severe symptoms than patients, likely reflecting patients’ anosognosia.
Rigatuso et al. (Tue,) studied this question.