Clinical Aspects of Alzheimer's Disease in Black and White Patients

This article examines the association between ethnicity and psychiatric symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Data from a cross-sectional study of patients evaluated at nine California Department of Health Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostic and Treatment Centers (ADDTCs) were used. Using the ADDTC patient database, sociodemographic and clinical variables in 207 black patients and 1818 white patients with probable and possible Alzheimer's disease were compared. Logistic and linear regression analysis indicated the following results: 1) black patients had fewer years of education and more often had hypertension, 2) black patients reported shorter duration of illness at the time of initial diagnosis of dementia, 3) black patients had lower Mini-Mental State Examination scores and higher Blessed Roth Dementia Rating Scale scores at the time of initial diagnosis, and 4) black patients more frequently reported insomnia and less frequently reported anxiety. Additional studies are needed to validate these findings and to generate hypotheses about the role of cardiovascular disease and pathophysiology of psychiatric symptoms in ethnic populations with Alzheimer's disease.