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Cognition and psychopathology in nonagenarians and centenarians living in geriatric nursing homes in S witzerland: a focus on anosognosia
Author(s) -
Mall JeanFrédéric,
Chouiter Leila,
Antonietti JeanPhilippe,
Ebbing Karsten,
Gunten Armin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
psychogeriatrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.647
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1479-8301
pISSN - 1346-3500
DOI - 10.1111/psyg.12041
Subject(s) - anosognosia , dementia , psychopathology , cognition , apathy , psychiatry , memory clinic , psychology , population , medicine , clinical psychology , cognitive decline , gerontology , cognitive impairment , disease , environmental health
Background The number of nonagenarians and centenarians is rising dramatically, and many of them live in nursing homes. Very little is known about psychiatric symptoms and cognitive abilities other than memory in this population. This exploratory study focuses on anosognosia and its relationship with common psychiatric and cognitive symptoms. Methods Fifty‐eight subjects aged 90 years or older were recruited from geriatric nursing homes and divided into five groups according to M ini‐ M ental S tate E xamination scores. Assessment included the five‐word test, executive clock‐drawing task, lexical and categorical fluencies, A nosognosia Q uestionnaire‐ D ementia, N europsychiatric I nventory, and C harlson C omorbidity I ndex. Results Subjects had moderate cognitive impairment, with mean ± SD M ini‐ M ental S tate E xamination being 15.41 ± 7.04. Anosognosia increased with cognitive impairment and was associated with all cognitive domains, as well as with apathy and agitation. Subjects with mild global cognitive decline seemed less anosognosic than subjects with the least or no impairment. Neither anosognosia nor psychopathological features were related to physical conditions. Conclusions Anosognosia in oldest‐old nursing home residents was mostly mild. It was associated with both cognitive and psychopathological changes, but whether anosognosia is causal to the observed psychopathological features requires further investigation.