Describes a transition in a mature Special Care Unit for Alzheimer's patients, where patient mix had become too diverse for intended programming. Since the patients were unable to become involved in premove planning and preparation activities, preparation of staff substituted for the involvement of residents. Improved discharge policies maintain…

Episodic memory (EM) deficits are the hall-mark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Story-retelling tasks are particularly sensitive to EM impairments and require participants to recall a short story immediately and after a delay. The purpose of this study was to determine whether presentation modality influences story recall in AD participants. Thirty…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the issue of age-limited learning effects on visual lexical decision in normal and pathological aging, by using words with different frequency trajectories and cumulative frequencies. We selected words that objectively changed in frequency trajectory from an early word count (Thorndike, 1921, 1932;…

Rates of dementia in adults with mental retardation without Down syndrome were equivalent to or lower than would be expected compared to general population rates, whereas prevalence rates of other chronic health concerns varied as a function of condition. Given that individual differences in vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease have been…

Background: The clinical and neuropathological features associated with dementia in Down's syndrome (DS) are not well established. Aims: To examine clinico-pathological correlations and the incidence of cognitive decline in a cohort of adults with DS. Method: A total of 92 hospitalized persons with DS were followed up from 1985 to December 2000.…

Institutionalized patients with Down syndrome (N=307) were monitored for 5 to 10 years to determine prevalence of Alzheimer-type dementia. Prevalence increased from 11% between ages 40 and 49 to 77% between 60 and 69. All patients 70 and over had dementia. Mean age of onset of dementia was 56 years. Neuropathological findings were consistent with…

Describes a woman who maintained high cognitive test scores until her death at 101 years of age despite anatomical evidence of Alzheimer's disease. The woman was part of a larger "Nun Study" in which 678 sisters donated their brains to teach others about the etiology of aging and Alzheimer's disease. Findings are discussed. (RJM)

Notes that, as American population ages and mental health counselors focus services on older adults, the identification, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of dementia will become valuable clinical skill. Presents nontechnical information regarding dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, multi-infarct dementia, testing, and therapeutic…

Conducted baseline interviews with 642 caregivers of aged Alzheimer's disease patients, then assigned one-half to formal respite care. Over 12 months, families with respite care maintained Alzheimer's patient significantly longer in community than did caregivers without respite. Respite care was ineffective for caregiver burden and mental health,…

Conducted longitudinal study of 196 caregiver/care receiver dyads to determine variables predictive of caregiver decision to institutionalize dependent with dementia. Use of services, enjoyment of caregiving, caregiver burden and health, caregiver rating and reaction to care receiver behavior and memory problems, and presence of troublesome…

This report describes the status of 70 adults (ages 22 to 60 at the longitudinal study's beginning) with Down syndrome who are being followed for signs of dementia. After 10 years, 12 met all criteria for dementia, 40 met subsets of criteria, and 18 met no criteria. Information is provided on choice and revision of instruments and dementia…

The utility of the Test for Severe Impairment was studied with 60 older persons who had Down Syndrome. Construct validity, test-retest reliability, and interrater reliability were established for the full study group and for subgroups based on degree of mental retardation and dementia status. Some possible applications and limitations of the test…

Alzheimer's disease (AD) subjects, healthy elderly, and young adults interpreted a series of novel noun-noun expressions composed of familiar object words. Subjects interpreted each item by selecting one of three possible definitions: a definition in which the referents of each noun were associated together in a particular context (e.g., rabbit…

Describes the demographic features and clinical diagnoses in a sample of 58 demented urban black outpatients. Results indicate that probable Alzheimer's disease was the most common cause of dementia whereas probable vascular dementia was uncommon. A multiple etiology dementia was identified in more than one-third of the patients. (RJM)

Emotional factors were studied in 30 adults with Down's syndrome, 18 controls with Alzheimer disease, and 25 elderly controls without mental retardation. Primary emotional factors separating Down's syndrome and Alzheimer disease groups from elderly control subjects without mental retardation were indifference, pragnosia, and inappropriateness.…