Can the ‘Head-Turning Sign’ Be a Clinical Marker of Alzheimer's Disease?

AIMS To investigate the incidence and severity of the 'head-turning sign' (HTS), i.e. turning the head back to the caregiver(s) for help, in patients with various dementias and discuss its clinical specificity in Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS WE INVESTIGATED THE INCIDENCE AND SEVERITY OF HTS WHILE ADMINISTERING A SHORT COGNITIVE TEST (THE REVISED HASEGAWA DEMENTIA RATING SCALE: HDSR) in outpatients with AD [125 patients, including 4 with AD + vascular dementia (VaD)], 8 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), 34 with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), 8 with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and 6 with VaD. RESULTS Significant differences were found among the 5 disease groups in the incidence and severity of HTS, and HDSR scores. Given the significant differences between AD and DLB in post hoc analyses, patients were dichotomized into AD-related (AD and aMCI) and AD-nonrelated (PSP, DLB and VaD) groups. Both incidence (41 vs. 17%, p = 0.002) and severity of HTS (0.80 ± 1.13 vs. 0.21 ± 0.60, p = 0.001) were significantly higher in the AD-related group, while average age and HDSR scores were comparable between both groups. AD-related disease, female gender and low HDSR score contributed significantly to the occurrence and severity of HTS. CONCLUSIONS HTS can be a clinical marker of AD and aMCI, and may represent a type of excuse behavior as well as a sign of dependency on and trust in the caregivers.