Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders

Original Research Article

Predictors of Longitudinal Changes in Memory, Visuospatial, and Verbal Functioning in Very Old Demented Adults

Small B.J.a · Bäckman L.a,b

Author affiliations

a Stockholm Gerontology Research Center and Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Family Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, b Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden

Keywords: Alzheimer’s diseaseVascular dementiaCognitionLongitudinal changes

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Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 1998;9:258–266
https://doi.org/10.1159/000017070

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Article / Publication Details

First-Page Preview
Abstract of Original Research Article

Published online: August 19, 1998
Issue release date: September – October

Number of Print Pages: 9
Number of Figures: 0
Number of Tables: 0

ISSN: 1420-8008 (Print)
eISSN: 1421-9824 (Online)

For additional information: https://www.karger.com/DEM

Abstract

Longitudinal changes in memory, visuospatial and verbal functioning in a sample of demented persons were examined. The role of several demographic, psychometric, and biological indices in predicting the rate of cognitive deterioration was also investigated. The sample consisted of 31 very old (mean age at entry = 83.5 years, range = 75–95) persons with Alzheimer’s disease (n = 22) and vascular dementia (n = 9) from a community-based study. Subjects were tested on two occasions separated by approximately 2.5 years. Results indicated significant longitudinal decline in verbal fluency and visuospatial ability, but only on 1 of 3 measures of episodic memory. Results from regression analyses indicated that a variety of putatively important variables, including age, gender, education, digit span, as well as a number of biological (vitamin B12, TSH), dementia etiology, and psychometric (digit span) indicators, exhibited no relationship to rate of memory, visuospatial, or verbal decline. The results suggest that the rate of cognitive deterioration in dementia is highly variable, and this variability in change appears to include a variety of characteristics. A possible reason thereof may be that the role of individual-difference variables for cognitive functioning in dementia is overshadowed by the pathogenetic process itself.



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Article / Publication Details

First-Page Preview
Abstract of Original Research Article

Published online: August 19, 1998
Issue release date: September – October

Number of Print Pages: 9
Number of Figures: 0
Number of Tables: 0

ISSN: 1420-8008 (Print)
eISSN: 1421-9824 (Online)

For additional information: https://www.karger.com/DEM

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1998, Vol.9, No. 5

September – October

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