A Factor Analytic Approach to Symptom Patterns in Dementia

Table 3

A Three-factor analysis of 30 clinical items scored in 190 patients with a neuropathological diagnosis of AD, FTD, VaD, and mixed AD/VaD. Factor loadings ≥+0.25 are in bold. Factor loadings ≤−0.25 are set in italic.

	Factor 1	Factor 2	Factor 3
History of stroke	0.70	−0.04	0.03
Stepwise progression	0.72	0.05	−0.07
Focal neurological symptoms	0.75	0.20	0.00
Abrupt onset	0.75	0.02	−0.03
Focal neurological signs	0.58	0.07	0.14
Evidence of associated atherosclerosis	0.49	−0.12	0.05
History of hypertension	0.47	−0.06	0.07
Fluctuating course	0.52	−0.21	−0.07
Depression	0.19	0.19	−0.18
Somatic complaints	0.16	−0.04	−0.09
Relative preservation of personality	0.12	−0.47	−0.13
Slow progression	−0.81	−0.14	0.11
Echolalia, late mutism, amimia (during the course)	−0.13	0.58	−0.05
Early signs of disinhibition	0.00	0.68	−0.17
Early loss of insight	−0.25	0.40	0.16
Progressive reduction of speech	0.06	0.46	0.00
Klüver-Bucy syndrome (hyperorality, hypersexuality, utilization behaviour)	−0.09	0.49	0.03
Stereotypy of speech	−0.11	0.41	−0.11
Logorrhea (voluble speech)	−0.13	0.27	0.11
Irritability, dysphoria	0.10	0.26	0.27
Dyspraxia, dysphasia, dysgnosia (all symptoms present to some extent)	−0.30	−0.58	0.52
Epileptic seizure of late onset	0.00	0.03	0.60
Increased muscular tension	0.00	−0.09	0.58
Myoclonic twitchings	−0.09	−0.04	0.63
Early spatial disorientation	−0.32	−0.72	0.31
Early amnesia for remote events	−0.43	−0.67	0.32
Confabulation, spontaneous	−0.03	−0.06	0.35
Logoclonia (stuttering-like speech disturbance)	−0.13	0.01	0.41
Nocturnal confusion	0.03	−0.17	0.39
Emotional incontinence	0.23	0.08	0.36
Eigenvalue	5.2	3.7	1.9
Variance %	17,3	12,2	6,4