Study of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in Taiwan

The behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are common serious problems that affect the quality of life for both the patients with such symptoms as well as their caregivers. BPSD present a major challenge in the medical management of patients and are the major cause of institutionalization. Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia in Taiwan. I performed a systematic literature review on BPSD studies and found that Taiwanese patients with AD exhibit many of the BPSD. Studies showed that between 30% and 63% of Taiwan's AD patients experienced delusion. Hallucination occurred less frequently, which ranged from 21% to 26%. Anxiety occurred in 35-76% of patients and depression 22-50%, sleep abnormalities 26-61% and 39-46%. The differences in the prevalence of BPSD might result from the different clinical settings and evaluation instruments. The prevalence and clinical manifestations of BPSD in Taiwan are similar to Western reports and it suggests that most of BPSD are neurobiologically determined. Based on differing cultural backgrounds, the interpretation of agitation and apathy might differ, so, the development of cross-cultural applicable criteria and rating scales for the assessment and treatment of BPSD are important for future studies.