On diagnosis of dementia: psychometric investigation and clinical psychiatric evaluation in relation to verified diagnosis.

Patients with early as well as manifest dementia were studied in a longitudinal way with psychometric and psychiatric methods. Tests such as vocabulary, attention test, block design test, verbal and spatial memory tests, reaction time test and examination for aphasia were used as well as a qualitative analysis of behaviour and personality. The differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease and other dementias with fronto-temporal degeneration and multi-infarct dementia was based on diagnostic rating scales. Differences in cognitive profiles, qualities of behaviour and scores on combinations of psychiatric rating scales were identified for pathoanatomically verified cases with Alzheimer's disease, fronto-temporal degeneration and multi-infarct dementia.