The psychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

The authors used a semistructured interview administered to primary family caregivers to assess the prevalence and nature of psychiatric pathology in 175 well-diagnosed community-residing Alzheimer's disease patients. Symptoms that are indicative of depression in the cognitively intact were virtually ubiquitous in this demented population. A variety of psychotic features were also regularly reported. The implications of these findings for the recognition and treatment of reversible psychiatric impairment are discussed.