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Arch Womens Ment Health (2004) 7:2736DOI 10.1007/s00737-003-0030-8Original contributionNeuropsychological profile of Alzheimers disease in women:
moderate and moderately severe cognitive declineJ. Garre-Olmo, S. Lo
pez-Pousa, J. Vilalta-Franch, A. Turon-Estrada,M. Lozano-Gallego, M. Herna
ndez-Ferra`ndiz, E. Gelada-Batlle, M. M. Cruz-Reina,V. Morante-Mun
~oz, and J. Peralta-RodrguezUnitat de Valoracio de la Memooria i les Demeencies (UVaMiD), Hospital Santa Caterina, Girona, SpainReceived April 15, 2003; accepted October 6, 2003Published online December 15, 2003 # Springer-Verlag 2003SummaryIntroduction: Alzheimers disease (AD) is characterised by progressivecognitive and functional decline. There is evidence that AD is moreprevalent in women. This study aims at identifying the clinical andsociodemographic variables associated with the cognitive functionsand the pattern of decline in women with moderate to moderatelysevere AD.Methods: Cross-sectional observational study of 165 women withdementia of the AD type according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. Thecognitive functions were assessed using the Cambridge CognitiveExamination (CAMCOG). The sociodemographic and clinical datawere collected from the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disordersof the Elderly (CAMDEX) interview, and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) was administrated to the caregiver.Results: The number of years of schooling and the score on theCAMDEX depression scale were the variables associated with theCAMCOG score. The effect of these variables was not homogenousfor all the CAMCOG subtests.Conclusions: The number of years of schooling and the presence ofdepressive symptomatology influence the results of the neuropsychological exploration, but the effect is moderate and not homogenous forall the CAMCOG subtests. The differences in cognitive profile betweenmoderate and moderately severe are characterised by a greater effecton temporal orientation, calculation and perception.Keywords: Alzheimers disease; neuropsychology; CAMCOG;cognition; gender.IntroductionMost of the epidemiological studies on the prevalenceand incidence of AD indicate that it predominates inthe female sex (Vilalta et al., 2000; Gao et al., 1998;Fratiglioni et al., 1997; Loopez-Pousa et al., 1995),although the reason for this has not been definitivelyidentified (Hebert et al., 2001). Different hypotheseshave been established, attributing these differences tothe longer lifespan of women and lower comorbiditycompared to men (Gambasi et al., 1999). From the biological point of view, it is believed that the sexual hormones have a considerable effect on the brain and thatthe chronic shortage of oestrogen in adulthood could bea risk factor for dementia (Tang et al., 1996). Oestrogenaffects the neuronal plasticity of the hippocampus andpossibly the cognitive functions it carries out (Melton,2000). Men are therefore more protected...