TY - JOUR
T1 - Longitudinal change in everyday function and behavioral symptoms in frontotemporal dementia
AU - O'Connor, Claire M.
AU - Clemson, Lindy
AU - Hornberger, Michael
AU - Leyton, Cristian E.
AU - Hodges, John R.
AU - Piguet, Olivier
AU - Mioshi, Eneida
N1 - Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - Background: The relationship between behavioral changes and functional decline in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is not well understood. Methods: Thirty-nine patients (21 behavioral variant FTD [bvFTD], 18 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia [svPPA]) were followed up longitudinally (2-4 years follow-up). Functional (Disability Assessment for Dementia) and behavioral (Cambridge Behavioural Inventory Revised) assessments were included for between-group (pairwise comparisons, mixed model analysis) and within-group analyses (bivariate correlations). Results: Functionally, patients with bvFTD were more impaired than patients with svPPA at baseline and continued to be at follow-up, despite similar disease duration. By contrast, behavioral impairments differed between patient groups at baseline and at follow-up. At baseline, patients with bvFTD exhibited higher levels of apathy and changes in eating than patients with svPPA; disinhibited and stereotypical behaviors were similar. Over the years, patients with bvFTD showed reduction in disinhibition and stereotypical behavior while apathy and eating changes increased. By contrast, all measured behaviors increased in patients with svPPA over time. Finally, only apathy made longitudinal contributions to functional disability in patients with svPPA, whereas apathy and stereotypical behavior were associated with increased disability in patients with bvFTD. Conclusions: Despite shared overlapping baseline behavioral symptoms, patients with bvFTD are more functionally impaired than patients with svPPA. Apathy has a strong role in disability for both bvFTD and svPPA, but stereotypical behaviors only contributed to functional deficits in patients with bvFTD. Our findings suggest that rigid/compulsive behaviors may in fact support activity engagement in patients with svPPA. Taken together, our results indicate that interventions to reduce disability in the FTD spectrum require an alternative rationale in comparison to Alzheimer disease dementia, and should carefully weigh the interaction of behavioral symptoms and functional status.
AB - Background: The relationship between behavioral changes and functional decline in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is not well understood. Methods: Thirty-nine patients (21 behavioral variant FTD [bvFTD], 18 semantic variant primary progressive aphasia [svPPA]) were followed up longitudinally (2-4 years follow-up). Functional (Disability Assessment for Dementia) and behavioral (Cambridge Behavioural Inventory Revised) assessments were included for between-group (pairwise comparisons, mixed model analysis) and within-group analyses (bivariate correlations). Results: Functionally, patients with bvFTD were more impaired than patients with svPPA at baseline and continued to be at follow-up, despite similar disease duration. By contrast, behavioral impairments differed between patient groups at baseline and at follow-up. At baseline, patients with bvFTD exhibited higher levels of apathy and changes in eating than patients with svPPA; disinhibited and stereotypical behaviors were similar. Over the years, patients with bvFTD showed reduction in disinhibition and stereotypical behavior while apathy and eating changes increased. By contrast, all measured behaviors increased in patients with svPPA over time. Finally, only apathy made longitudinal contributions to functional disability in patients with svPPA, whereas apathy and stereotypical behavior were associated with increased disability in patients with bvFTD. Conclusions: Despite shared overlapping baseline behavioral symptoms, patients with bvFTD are more functionally impaired than patients with svPPA. Apathy has a strong role in disability for both bvFTD and svPPA, but stereotypical behaviors only contributed to functional deficits in patients with bvFTD. Our findings suggest that rigid/compulsive behaviors may in fact support activity engagement in patients with svPPA. Taken together, our results indicate that interventions to reduce disability in the FTD spectrum require an alternative rationale in comparison to Alzheimer disease dementia, and should carefully weigh the interaction of behavioral symptoms and functional status.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84992169498&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000000264
DO - 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000000264
M3 - Article
C2 - 27847684
AN - SCOPUS:84992169498
SN - 2163-0402
VL - 6
SP - 419
EP - 428
JO - Neurology: Clinical Practice
JF - Neurology: Clinical Practice
IS - 5
ER -