Longitudinal course of normal aging and progressive dementia of the Alzheimer's type: A prospective study of 106 subjects over a 3.6 year mean interval

Reisberg, Barry, Steven H. Ferris, Emma Shulman, Gertrude Steinberg, Catherine Buttinger, Elia Sinaiko, Jeffrey Borenstein, Mony J. de Leon and Jacob Cohen: Longitudinal course of normal aging and progressive dementia of the Alzheimer's type: A prospective study of 106 subjects over a 3.6 year mean interval. Prog. Neuro-Psychopharmacol. & Biol. Psychiat. 1986, 10 (3–5): 571–578. 1. Elderly, community residing subjects (N = 106; mean age = 70.6 ± 6.02 years)with cognitive functioning consistent with normal aging or dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT), were followed over a 3.6 year mean interval (range = 2.78 to 5.12 years). All subjects were assesed at baseline on the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS), a global clinical instrument reflecting the continuum of cognitive dysfunction from normal aging to severe DAT. At follow-up subjects were reassessd with respect to mortality, institutionalization and clinical change, defined as at least a two-point change on the 7-point GDS. 2. Our results suggest that patients at deterioration levels GDS ≥ 4, are more likely to show negative outcomes, specifically, institutionalization (Ps < .001), death (Ps < .01), or, for the community residing remainder, clinical deterioration (Ps < .05), than subjects from less impaired (GDS = 2 or GDS = 3) subject groups. Seventy-six per cent of subjects at deterioration levels four or greater (N = 34) had negative outcomes at follow-up, whereas ninety percent of subjects with deterioration levels less than four (N = 72) did not.