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51/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 51 out of 100. Cognitive tests and assessment

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

Background Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are non-cognitive symptoms commonly associated to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The characterization of the clinical profile of AD patients might help to better understand disease evolution and to improve diagnosis and treatment. Thus, the aim of the present study is to describe the clinical profile of AD patients, and to correlate the presence of BPSD with the severity of the disease.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Low

This is a cross-sectional study of 1,014 participants. This cross-sectional study described the clinical profile of people with Alzheimer's disease in Spain and looked at how behavioural and psychological symptoms relate to disease severity. It is observational and aimed at understanding disease evolution and improving diagnosis and treatment, not at testing a cure or prevention.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Fernández, M., Gobartt, A. L., Balañá, M., & COOPERA Study Group. (2010). Behavioural symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease and their association with cognitive impairment. BMC neurology. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-10-87

Vancouver

Fernández M, Gobartt AL, Balañá M, COOPERA Study Group. Behavioural symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease and their association with cognitive impairment. BMC neurology. 2010. doi:10.1186/1471-2377-10-87. PMID: 20920205.

BibTeX

@article{fernandez2010-20920205,
  author  = {Fernández, M. and Gobartt, A. L. and Balañá, M. and {COOPERA Study Group}},
  title   = {{Behavioural symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease and their association with cognitive impairment}},
  journal = {BMC neurology},
  year    = {2010},
  doi     = {10.1186/1471-2377-10-87},
  pmid    = {20920205},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-10-87}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: this is a cross-sectional study. Everyone is measured once, so it cannot show which came first. Read it as a snapshot of how two things go together at one moment.
Size: the record lists 1,014 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

New to reading papers? Six questions to ask of any Alzheimer’s study · how we score.

Key findings

The characterization of the clinical profile of AD patients might help to better understand disease evolution and to improve diagnosis and treatment.
Thus, the aim of the present study is to describe the clinical profile of AD patients, and to correlate the presence of BPSD with the severity of the disease.
Methods A cross-sectional, observational and multicenter study was conducted at 115 centres in Spain.
Patients suffering from AD with higher and lower BPSD scores (ADAS-Noncog score 26-50 and ≤25, respectively) were included.

Why it matters

This cross-sectional study described the clinical profile of people with Alzheimer's disease in Spain and looked at how behavioural and psychological symptoms relate to disease severity. It is observational and aimed at understanding disease evolution and improving diagnosis and treatment, not at testing a cure or prevention.

Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Participants1,014
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 51/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMC neurology)
Journal's citation record	1 / 4	BMC Neurology: journal h-index 122 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in time
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2010 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	3 / 4	1,014 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 169 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	9.4 citations a year over 18 year(s) since 2010
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 6.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	1 / 6	Cited by 1 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 28 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	1 / 4	Last-listed author M Balañá: h-index 6 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	0 / 3	Hospital de Cruces: institution h-index 277 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 20920205)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	51 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

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