An exploration of clinical dementia phenotypes among individuals with and without traumatic brain injury

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the clinical profiles of individuals with dementia who do and do not report a history of TBI. INTRODUCTION: Some evidence suggests that a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with an increased risk of dementia later in life. The clinical features of dementia associated with TBI have not been well investigated. While there is some evidence that TBI is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), there are also indications that dementia associated with TBI has prominent behavioral, affective, and motor symptoms, making it distinct from AD. METHODS: The current study involves secondary analysis of baseline data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) Uniform Data Set (UDS). RESULTS: Individuals with dementia who reported a history of TBI had higher fluency and verbal memory scores and later onset of decline, but they are on more medications, had worse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health, were more likely to have received medical attention for depression, and were more likely to have a gait disorder, falls, and motor slowness. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that dementia among individuals with a history of TBI may represent a unique clinical phenotype that is distinct from known dementia subtypes.