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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Do older adults presenting with memory complaints wish to be told if later diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease? | | Author(s) | Paul Elson |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 21, no 5, May 2006 |
| Pages | pp 419-425 |
| Source | http://www.interscience.wiley.com Article also published in : Signpost, vol 11, no 3, Feb 2007, pp 5-11. |
| Keywords | Memory disorders ; Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Patients ; Communication ; Social surveys ; Carmarthenshire ; Swansea. |
| Annotation | Many patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are not told of their diagnosis. Studies have shown that relatives have mixed views regarding whether or not patients should be told, while older peers favour disclosure. Recent studies have shown that patients with diagnosed dementia also favour being told. The present study sought the views of patients prior to diagnosis. Participants were a consecutive sample of patients aged 65+ from the old age psychiatry services in Llanelli and Swansea, and suffering from memory complaints. They were asked what they considered to be causing memory problems and whether or not they would want to know the cause. They were then specifically asked if they would if they would want to know if diagnosed with AD, and what were their reasons for this. Two-thirds of the patients were uncertain regarding the cause of their memory difficulties, although the remainder did offer some valid explanations. 86% wanted to know the cause, while 69% wanted to know if diagnosed with AD: a variety of reasons were offered to support their preference. Most of the older people presenting to services with memory complaints had little understanding of the potential cause of their problems. Most were nevertheless keen to know the cause, even if this transpired to be AD. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions made for future research. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-061109001 A |
| Classmark | EH: EA: LK7: LF: U: 3F: 93D: 96A |
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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