Neuropsychiatric symptoms as early manifestation of Alzheimer's disease

Aim: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are a heterogeneous group of changes in personality and behavior that can be observed already in early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) is a newly developed diagnostic category describing persistent changes in personality and behavior starting later in life. Based on these criteria, a new measure, the Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist (MBI-C) has been developed, aimed at detecting NPS in early stages of AD. The aim of this study is to present the newly adapted Czech version of the MBI-C and to explore the presence of NPS in a pilot group of patients. Patients and methods: The original MBI-C has been adapted to Czech and administered to close informants of 188 patients. The patients were divided according to the results of a complex neuropsychological, neurological examination and brain imaging into 3 groups: cognitively normal (N = 69), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI; N = 87) and dementia due to AD (N = 32). Results: Patients with aMCI expressed in the MBI-C significantly more severe score compared to cognitively normal subjects and less severe compared to dementia patients. The differences were observed mainly in affective, motivation and impulse control domains. Conclusion: The Czech version of the MBI-C detects the presence of NPS even before the onset of dementia syndrome and is useful in clinical practice.