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Neuropsychiatric symptoms are associated with disability in cognitively impaired Latino elderly with and without dementia: results from the Sacramento Area Latino study on Aging
Author(s) -
Hinton Ladson,
Tomaszewski Farias Sarah,
Wegelin Jacob
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.1952
Subject(s) - dementia , depression (economics) , medicine , gerontology , confounding , cohort , epidemiology , activities of daily living , psychiatry , cohort study , population , psychology , clinical psychology , disease , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Objective To examine the relationship between neuropsychiatric symptoms burden and disability in cognitively impaired older Latinos. Methods Subjects in the cross‐sectional study were 95 cognitively impaired (both demented and non‐demented) non‐institutionalized Latino elderly participating in an epidemiological cohort study and their family caregivers. Care recipient neuropsychiatric symptoms (Neuropsychiatric Inventory) and level of functional impairment (i.e. impairment in activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living) were assessed through interviews with family caregivers. Results Both NPI total score and NPI depression subscale score were significantly associated with disability before and after controlling for potential confounding variables. The strength of the association between higher neuropsychiatric symptom levels and higher disability was similar for both the cognitively impaired not demented and demented groups. Conclusions Neuropsychiatric symptoms are associated with increased disability in a community sample of cognitively impaired Latino elderly. More effective identification and treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms may improve functioning in older Latinos and reduce health disparities for this population. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.