Relationship between Premorbid Personality and Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms in Dementia in Korean Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Objective：We performed a cross-sectional study to examine the relationship between premorbid personality and behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD) in Korean patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods：We assessed 103 patients diagnosed with AD for the presence of BPSD over the disease course by using the caregiver-rated Korean version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI) and for the premorbid personality by using a retrospective version of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory questionnaire completed by informants. Results：Premorbid neuroticism was significantly correlated with delusion, agitation, anxiety, disinhibition, total K-NPI score (p＜0.05), and sleep disturbances (p＜0.01). Lower premorbid conscientiousness was significantly correlated with symptoms of hallucinations and sleep disturbances in AD patients (p＜0.05). However, premorbid neuroticism and low premorbid conscientiousness did not act as independent predictors for “psychosis, hyperactivity,” or “moods, apathy, frontal” factors of BPSD. Conclusion：Premorbid personality was associated with the K-NPI score, but was not observed to be potential predictors of BPSD.