ABSTRACT
Although the cognitive impairments in dementia are the defining and
perhaps most easily measurable aspects of the disease, there are many
other symptoms and signs that collectively are known as behavioural
and psychiatric symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Changes in the ability to
function and in cognition cluster together and therefore seem to be
symptoms of the same underlying pathology. These are not mirrored by
changes in BPSD, which is now seen as a distinct syndrome that should
be considered independently of the cognitive and functional domains of
the dementing process. There are many symptoms in this cluster. A list
of some of the common individual symptoms of BPSD is given in Box
The only epidemiological study of BPSD in people with dementia in the
community showed that 60% of individuals with AD reported at least
one symptom, a third of those with BPSD had multiple symptoms.
