Abstract

Dementia is a syndrome that entails 3 clinical elements: decline in cognition, deficits in adaptive capacities (i.e., activities of daily living [ADL] and/or instrumental activities of daily living [IADL]) and behavioural disturbances. Intriguingly, despite the cognitive decline recent research indicates that the behavioural disturbances are the major source of stress and/or burden for the caregiver of the patient. Furthermore, the prominent relationship between behavioural disturbance and stress/burden of the caregiver is quite often the major trigger for institutionalization of the patient. The purpose of this presentation is to briefly review the phenomenology and some selected clinical aspects of the behavioural symptoms of dementia.