Personality changes in dementia: A review

Abstract

The present review aimed to analyze empirical studies that have investigated the personality changes in dementia, based on the Five Factor Model of Personality. We systematically reviewed empirical articles indexed in the following databases EBSCO/Web of Knowledge/Medline/Pubmed/SciELO/Scopus. Fifty-seven articles were included. The personality changes are evident in the early stages of dementiaand could be an early clinical marker. A data appears to be generally transverse and unanimous, there is evidence of an increase in personality trait Neuroticism and a decrease in personality trait Consciousness. It is suggested the need for systematic investigations, in order to increase the sensitivity of early diagnosis and practical utility in terms of current clinical diagnosis in Alzheimer’s dementia, with the introduction of personality evaluation.