Neuropsychiatric symptoms in community‐dwelling older Brazilians with mild cognitive impairment and dementia

• Published in: Alzheimer's & dementia : diagnosis, assessment & disease monitoring Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. e12343 - n/a
• Main Authors: Suemoto, Claudia Kimie, Nunes, Paula Villela, Leite, Renata Elaine Paraizo, Ferretti‐Rebustini, Renata Eloah de Lucena, Pasqualucci, Carlos Augusto, Nitrini, Ricardo, Rodriguez, Roberta Diehl, Grinberg, Lea Tenenholz, Jacob‐Filho, Wilson
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken John Wiley & Sons, Inc 2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Autopsies; Cognitive ability; Dementia; Letter; Letters to the Editor; United States > US
• ISSN: 2352-8729; 2352-8729
• DOI: 10.1002/dad2.12343

Dear Dr. Liana Apostolova, Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common preceding and in the course of dementia and are the cause of significant burden to patients and caregivers alike. 1 Considering that most people with dementia live in low- to middle-income countries, 2 it is critical to understand the frequency and distribution of these symptoms across dementia stages in these countries. [...]we read with interest the manuscript “Neuropsychiatric symptoms in Brazilians with mild cognitive impairment and dementia” from Wilson et al. published recently in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment, & Disease Monitoring. 3 The authors analyzed the frequency of neuropsychiatric syndromes, according to the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) in 2319 older Brazilians, whose data were collected for the Study of Ancestry and Neurodegenerative Diseases (SAND), which the authors suggest has been recently renamed to Pathology, Alzheimer's and Related Dementias Study (PARDoS). [...]the NIH REPORTER description of SAND projects makes it explicit that “The proposed study brings together a unique team of neurologists, epidemiologists, neuropathologists, geneticists, statisticians, and geriatricians from the USA and Faculty of Medicine at the University of São Paulo to conduct a study that is simply not possible in the USA” (https://reporter.nih.gov/search/T0tGjsxUU0aGOSrevVqGFA/project-details/9511723). [...]we were surprised that Wilson et al. made no mention either to the Sao Paulo Autopsy Service as the source of cases for the study or the BAS as the original study that developed the structured clinical interview and the infrastructure used by the SAND project. A careful reader will find a clear mention of our findings on differences in the profile of the neuropsychiatric symptoms between normal controls and MCI in the Abstract and Results sections of our 2019 paper. 5 Here, we quote our findings described in the Results section: “In an adjusted multivariate logistic regression model, delusions, hallucinations, agitation, depression, disinhibition, irritability, and motor behavior were more frequent in the MCI group than in the cognitively normal group.” [...]Wilson et al. found similar results to those reported in our 2019 paper: individuals with MCI have more symptoms of agitation, affect, psychosis, and behavioral problems than those with normal cognitive function.