Premium
Cognitive and motor impairments predict functional declines in patients with vascular dementia
Author(s) -
Boyle Patricia A.,
Cohen Ronald A.,
Paul Robert,
Moser David,
Gordon Norman
Publication year - 2002
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.539
Subject(s) - psychology , executive functions , cognition , dementia , activities of daily living , developmental psychology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , neuroscience , medicine , psychiatry , disease , pathology
Background Vascular dementia (VaD) is associated with impairments in cognitive, motor, and functional domains. Patients with VaD display diverse cognitive and motor deficits, however, and relationships between these impairments and independent living abilities remain unclear. Objectives The purpose of the present study was to investigate the contributions made by attentional/executive and motor functions in the prediction of basic and instrumental activities of daily living in 32 patients with VaD. We hypothesized that: (a) motor abilities would emerge as a significant predictor of basic activities of daily living, whereas attentional/executive abilities would not, and (b) both motor and attentional/executive abilities would emerge as significant predictors of instrumental activities of daily living. Results Stepwise regression analyses revealed that motor performance, but not attentional/executive abilities, accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in basic activities of daily living, and that both motor and attentional/executive abilities contributed significantly to the prediction of instrumental activities of daily living. Conclusions These results suggest that attentional/executive and motor impairments may underlie specific aspects of functional disability among patients with VaD. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.