8 research outputs found

    Quality of life in mild dementia: patterns of change in self and caregiver ratings over time

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    Objectives: To determine changes over time in self and caregiver ratings of quality of life (QoL) in people with dementia (PwD) and to identify factors associated with changes in QoL ratings. Methods: In this longitudinal study, 69 people with mild Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers were assessed at baseline and after 1 year. We examined the association of QoL ratings with the following variables at the two time points: awareness of disease, cognitive status, mood, functionality, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and caregiver burden. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted to examine the contribution of co-factors. Results: At baseline, PwD self-ratings of QoL were associated with caregiver ratings of PwD QoL (p = 0.001). Caregiver ratings were associated with PwD mood (p = 0.001) and self-rated QoL (p = 0.001). After 1 year, caregiver ratings of PwD QoL changed significantly (p = 0.049, d = -0.27), whereas PwD self-ratings did not (p = 0.89, d = 0.09). PwD awareness of disease changed significantly (p = 0.001) at 1 year, having declined in 25.4% and improved in 12.3% of participants. PwD QoL self-ratings were associated with caregiver ratings (p = 0.001). Caregiver ratings of PwD QoL after 1 year were associated with PwD mood (p = 0.029), self-reported QoL (p = 0.001), and awareness of disease (p = 0.033). Conclusions: The association between self and caregiver ratings of PwD QoL was maintained over 1 year. The primary factors accounting for the change in caregiver ratings were PwD mood and awareness of disease. QoL and cognitive impairment seem to be relatively independent in mild dementia

    Facial expression recognition in Alzheimer’s disease: a longitudinal study

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    Facial recognition is one of the most important aspects of social cognition. In this study, we investigate the patterns of change and the factors involved in the ability to recognize emotion in mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Through a longitudinal design, we assessed 30 people with AD. We used an experimental task that includes matching expressions with picture stimuli, labelling emotions and emotionally recognizing a stimulus situation. We observed a significant difference in the situational recognition task (p ≤ 0.05) between baseline and the second evaluation. The linear regression showed that cognition is a predictor of emotion recognition impairment (p ≤ 0.05). The ability to perceive emotions from facial expressions was impaired, particularly when the emotions presented were relatively subtle. Cognition is recruited to comprehend emotional situations in cases of mild dementia

    Caregivers’ quality of life in mild and moderate dementia

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    Objective To investigate quality of life (QoL) of caregivers of mild and moderate dementia and the aspects related to QoL. Method Cross-sectional assessment of dyads of people with dementia (PwD) and family caregivers (n=88). Results Burden (p<0.05) and depressive symptoms (p<0.001) were related to caregivers’ QoL in both stages of dementia. In mild dementia, caregivers’ depressive symptoms (p<0.001) and PwD neuropsychiatric symptoms (p<0.001) were related to burden. PwD aberrant motor activity (p<0.001) and anxiety (p<0.001), and caregiver-reported QoL domains of friends (p<0.001) and mood (p<0.05) were related to depressive symptoms. In moderate dementia, self-reported QoL (p<0.01) and anxiety (p<0.01), and PwD anxiety (p<0.01) were related to burden. Caregivers’ anxiety (p<0.001) and self-reported QoL (p<0.001) were related to depressive symptoms. Conclusion Burden and depressive symptoms were related to QoL of caregivers of mild and moderate dementia. However, they are driven by different factors according to dementia severity
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