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F5‐03‐02: Emotional reactivity and awareness of task performance in Alzheimer's disease
Author(s) -
Mograbi Daniel,
Brown Richard,
Salas Christian,
Morris Robin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2012.05.1964
Subject(s) - reactivity (psychology) , psychology , disease , dementia , neuropsychology , mood , task (project management) , audiology , clinical psychology , cognition , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , medicine , psychiatry , pathology , alternative medicine , management , economics
Background:A commonmethod for assessing a person with dementia’s appraisal of their own condition is to interview them and ask direct questions. However, people with dementia can develop knowledge about their condition without it being expressed directly in terms of their own selves. Consequently, an indirect, vignette-based method can be used to measure awareness in which judgments are made about fictitious characters with dementia included in vignettes. Methods: Three vignettes were constructed which describe situations concerning early dementia, established dementia and healthy aging. The participants had to listen to the vignettes and express their viewpoints concerning the problems that the characters in the vignettes were experiencing and what advice might be given. 91 people with early dementia, including those with Alzheimer’s disease, vascular and mixed dementia were included in the study, compared to 87 carers and 80 older adults. The responses were also contrasted with awareness of their own illness or neuropsychological deficit.Results: The people with dementia were often able to identify the dementia related problems associated with the characters in the vignettes and often provide appropriate advice, although in both cases this was less than that found in carers or older adults. The ability to provide advice decreased with dementia severity and there was some association between vignette scores and awareness of illness or functional deficit. Conclusions: The vignette procedure can be used to assess indirectly knowledge concerning the effects of dementia in people with dementia. It might provide an additional tool to measuring general awareness associated with dementia in in the early stages.