First symptoms of dementia: A study of relatives' reports

Fifty relatives who accompanied patients to a dementia clinic for diagnostic evaluation completed questionnaires inquiring about initial symptoms of illness, changes in symptoms over time, current functional and psychiatric problems of the patient, and caregiver stress. Forgetfulness was the most commonly reported initial symptom, followed by confusion, depression, agitation, inattention, getting lost, language problems, and motor problems. Usually, multiple initial symptoms were endorsed (mean = 3.28 ± 1.83). Spouses reported fewer initial symptoms overall and less frequent depression than younger relatives. In addition, there was a significant relationship between informants' reports of first symptoms and the reported levels of caregiver stress and current psychiatric problems in patients. Patients with clinical diagnoses of Alzheimer‐type or multi‐infarct dementia had a different profile of initial symptoms from those with mood disturbance, but there was no difference in reported symptoms between the dementia groups.