Sundown syndrome in patients with Alzheimer’s disease dementia

The sundown syndrome is a complex neurobehavioral disorder in patients with dementia associated with high financial cost and significant caregiver burden. It is a multifactorial phenomenon with unclear pathophysiology, characterized by the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in the evening period. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the main neuropsychiatric symptoms, their correlation with one another, with comorbidities, and with time of day of greatest symptom intensity in patients with Alzheimer’s disease dementia. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, observational and explanatory study in which caregivers/relatives of elderly patients with dementia were interviewed using a structured tool called the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). RESULTS: The sample studied was composed of 38 patients, 60.5% female and 39.5% male, with mean age of 81±6 (67-94) years. A high frequency of neuropsychiatric symptoms in the evening period was observed, predominantly irritability (55.3%), nocturnal behavior (47.4%), and aggressiveness (42.1%). Only 36.8% of the family caregivers used non-pharmacological strategies. CONCLUSION: The frequency of neuropsychiatric symptoms was exacerbated in the evening among patients with Alzheimer’s disease, especially for those behavioral symptoms that had a positive correlation with one another.