Affiliations: [a]
Servicio de Neurología, Clinical Neuroscience Research Group, IRBLleida-Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova, Spain
| [b]
Unitat Trastorns Cognitius, Clinical Neuroscience Research Group, IRBLleida-Hospital Universitari Santa Maria Lleida, Spain
| [c]
Servicio de Análisis Clínicos, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Spain
| [d]
Clinical Neuroscience Research Group, IRBLleida-Department of Experimental Medicine, Lleida, Spain
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Gerard Piñol Ripoll, MD, PhD, Cogntive Disorders Unit, Hospital Santa Universitari Maria, Rovira Roure no 44. 25198, Lleida, Spain. Tel.: +34 937 727222; Fax: +34 976 727366; E-mail: gerard_437302@hotmail.com.
Abstract: Background:Hallucinations may have a broad spectrum and include so-called minor hallucinations (MHs). MHs include passage hallucinations (PHs), visual illusions, and presence hallucinations (PrHs). Objective:To determine the prevalence and characteristics of MHs in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, and to describe their potential relationship with cognition, behavioral symptoms, and use of psychoactive drugs. Methods:We have recruited prospectively and consecutively 268 subjects (90 AD mild-moderate drug-naïve patients, 78 aMCI, and 100 controls). All patients responded to a semi-structured questionnaire in order to rate psychotic phenomena. Clinical, neuropsychological, and demographic data of patients with and without MH were compared with those of age, sex, and education-matched controls. Results:The prevalence of MHs was 21.1% (19) in AD, 12.8% (10) in aMCI, and 3% (3) in controls (p < 0.01). The most frequent MH was PrH (9.3%), followed by PH (4.9%) and illusion (0.7%). Eight (27.8%) patients had more than one MH. After adjusting for age and gender, there was a negative correlation between the presence of MHs and MMSE score (r = –0.261; p < 0.01) and a positive correlation between MHs and Neuropsychiatric Inventory score (r = 0.237; p < 0.01). We did not observe a significant relationship between presence of MHs and the consumption of psychoactive drugs (p > 0.05). Conclusion:We have shown that the presence of MHs in patients with newly diagnosed, untreated AD and aMCI is more than controls. MHs were correlated with other behavioral symptoms and a worse cognitive performance. We suggest the specific interrogation for MHs as a clinical feature for this population.
