Neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life in Spanish patients with Alzheimer’s disease during the COVID‐19 lockdown

Background and purpose The COVID‐19 epidemic is affecting almost all individuals worldwide, and patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and amnesic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are particularly at risk due to their characteristics and age. We analysed the impact of the pandemic on these patients’...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of neurology Vol. 27; no. 9; pp. 1744 - 1747
Main Authors: Lara, B., Carnes, A., Dakterzada, F., Benitez, I., Piñol‐Ripoll, G.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.09.2020
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Agitation
Alzheimer Disease - complications
Alzheimer Disease - psychology
Alzheimer's disease
anxiety
Anxiety - complications
Anxiety - psychology
Apathy
Apathy - physiology
Caregivers
Cognitive ability
Confinement
coronavirus
COVID-19
COVID-19 - complications
COVID-19 - psychology
Dementia and Cognitive Disorders
depression
Emotional behavior
Epidemics
Evaluation
Female
Humans
Impact analysis
Male
mild cognitive impairment
Motor activity
Neurodegenerative diseases
Neuropsychological Tests
Pandemics
Psychomotor Agitation - complications
Psychomotor Agitation - psychology
Quality of life
Quality of Life - psychology
Quarantine - psychology
Shelter in place
Short Communication
Signs and symptoms
Spain
Surveys and Questionnaires
Viral diseases
Spain
COVID-19
anxiety
coronavirus
mild cognitive impairment
depression
Alzheimer’s disease
ISSN:1351-5101, 1468-1331, 1468-1331
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Background and purpose The COVID‐19 epidemic is affecting almost all individuals worldwide, and patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and amnesic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are particularly at risk due to their characteristics and age. We analysed the impact of the pandemic on these patients’ neuropsychiatric symptoms and their quality of life after 5 weeks of lockdown in Spain. Methods A total of 40 patients with a diagnosis of MCI (n = 20) or mild AD (n = 20) from the Cognitive Stimulation Program of the Cognitive Disorders Unit were evaluated. All patients had undergone a previous evaluation during the month before the lockdown, and were re‐evaluated after 5 weeks of lockdown. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and EuroQol‐5D questionnaire (EQ‐5D) were used to assess neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients and the quality of life in patients as well in caregivers. Results The mean (SD) total baseline NPI score was 33.75 (22.28), compared with 39.05 (27.96) after confinement (P = 0.028). The most frequently affected neuropsychiatric symptoms were apathy [4.15 (3.78) vs. 5.75 (4.02); P = 0.002] and anxiety [3.95 (3.73) vs. 5.30 (4.01); P = 0.006] in patients with MCI, and apathy [2.35 (2.70) vs. 3.75 (3.78); P = 0.036], agitation [0.45 (1.14) vs. 1.50 (2.66); P = 0.029] and aberrant motor behaviour [1.25 (2.86) vs. 2.00 (2.93); P = 0.044] in patients with AD. We did not observe differences in EQ‐5D scores during the re‐evaluation. The 30% of patients and 40% of caregivers reported a worsening of the patients' health status during confinement. Conclusions The results of this study show the worsening of neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with AD and MCI during 5 weeks of lockdown, with agitation, apathy and aberrant motor activity being the most affected symptoms.
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ISSN:1351-5101
1468-1331
1468-1331
DOI:10.1111/ene.14339