Primary progressive aphasia: relationship between gender and severity of language impairment.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Factors influencing the course and severity of symptoms in primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a language-based dementia, have not been fully elucidated. The current study examined the influence of gender on performance on tests of naming and verbal fluency in patients with PPA. Comparisons were also made within a group of probable Alzheimer disease (AD) patients to determine whether gender differences were present in the most common form of neurodegenerative dementia. METHODS: Performance was compared by gender within each diagnostic group on 3 language measures: the Boston Naming Test, category fluency (animals), and lexical fluency (FAS). Scores were compared at baseline (Visit 1) and in a subset of participants 6 to 15 months later (Visit 2). RESULTS: Compared to men, women with PPA demonstrated significantly greater impairment on word fluency tests at both visits and also had a more aggressive rate of decline between visits. AD patients showed no differences by gender on any measure. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest gender-based vulnerability in PPA where women express more severe language impairments than men given a similar duration of illness.