625
Views
32
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Rapid cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease: a literature review

, &
Pages 650-658 | Received 06 Aug 2013, Accepted 21 Oct 2013, Published online: 15 Jan 2014
 

Abstract

Background: The rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) varies considerably between individuals. Predicting rapid cognitive decline might help clinicians provide prognostic information, select subjects for trial intervention and/or reduce costs. Methods: PubMed and PsycINFO were searched for all the English written studies published until the end of 2010 on rapid cognitive decline in AD and factors associated with it. Results: More than 300 individual articles were retrieved. We selected 82 relevant studies. The main findings of these papers are that younger, more educated and more impaired patients are more likely to show rapid cognitive decline. ApoE alleles seem not to modify the velocity of clinical progression of dementia, or at most could have a very small effect. No inference can be made for all the other variables analysed. Conclusions: There are many studies on rapid cognitive decline. Results are heterogeneous and often contradictory. No reliable conclusions about factors that may be associated with rapid cognitive decline can yet be drawn.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank John O’Brien, Nicola Lautenschlager and Michael Woodward for their constructive comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Declaration of interest: A.S. carried out the search of the literature and wrote the initial draft of the paper. K.E. and D.A. supervised the search of the literature and assisted with writing the article. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 770.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.