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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Neuropsychological functioning and delusions in dementia
— a pilot study | | Author(s) | C Fischer, R Ladowsky-Brooks, C Millikin |
| Journal title | Aging & Mental Health, vol 10, no 1, January 2006 |
| Pages | pp 27-32 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Delusion ; Dementia ; Cognitive processes ; Evaluation ; Pilot ; Canada. |
| Annotation | The pattern of neuropsychological functioning associated with the presence of delusions in mild to moderate dementia was investigated in this pilot study in Toronto, Canada. Participants, all of whom met criteria for dementia, were divided into two groups: 9 delusional, 9 non-delusional (individuals with hallucinations were excluded). Participants completed a neuropsychological test battery. Global cognitive functioning (Mini-Mental State Examination - MMSE) and behavioural disturbance (Behavioural Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale - BEHAVE-AD) were also assessed. Differences between the delusional and non-delusional groups were most marked for immediate recall of stories, which was higher in the non-delusional group. Conversely, simple attention span (Digit Span) was within normal limits for both groups. Floor effects were noted on measures of delayed recall and alternating attention. This study supports previous findings of greater neuropsychological impairment in delusional as compared to non-delusional individuals with dementia. However, some areas of cognitive functioning may be relatively preserved. Further research should examine semantic processing in people with dementia with and without delusions. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-060202250 A |
| Classmark | EDD: EA: DA: 4C: 4UC: 7S |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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