Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in subjects with cognitive impairment (mild cognitive impairment and dementia). It is also widely known that there are many cognitive differences between men and women. The aim of this study is to describe the neuropsychiatric profile of elderly subjects visited in a dementia unit and to estimate the gender differences in this sample.

We conducted a retrospective study in a sample of outpatients visited for the first time in a specialized dementia unit during 2008. The clinical and socio-demographic characteristics were compiled through a structured interview and neuropsychiatric tests. Yesavage scale was used for depression assessment and psychiatric symptoms were evaluated using NPI-Q test.

144 subjects were analyzed, 72.2% were women (n=104) and 27.8% were men (n=40). Mean age at diagnosis was 79.15 +/− 6.58 years. Mean score in Yesavage was higher in women (4.34) than in men (3.9) although not statistically significant. Male subjects showed greater anxiety and aggressiveness than women (p< 0.05) analyzed with NPI-Q. Prior to the first assessment interview 73.6% of the subjects had used psychiatric drugs: women were found to take more SSRI (12,5% vs 5%) while men were using more benzodiazepines (22,5% vs 14,4%) although not statistically significant.

We have found that anxiety and aggressiveness defines male neuropsychiatric profile in our sample. More results pointed towards other different features defining genders although not statistically significant. Further studies, with larger samples and more exhaustive assessment, are needed to determine sex differences in subjects with cognitive impairment.