Cognitive insight in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Background/rationale: We investigated the cognitive insight profile of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) using the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). Methods: This study involved 30 patients with probable AD and 15 healthy participants (ie, the controls). All individuals completed the BCIS, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: Mean scores of the HADS-depression subscale, HAMD, BCIS-self-reflectiveness (BCIS-R), and BCIS-self-certainty (BCIS-C) subscales were significantly different between the patients and the controls. However, there was no significant difference in BCIS reflectiveness-certainty index scores between the patients and the control groups. Regression analyses showed a moderately positive correlation between hallucinations and BCIS-C scores. Conclusion: This study is the first to investigate cognitive insight in patients with probable AD. The BCIS-R and BCIS-C scores were significantly lower in patients than in control group. © The Author(s) 2012.