Quality of life and Alzheimer's disease: Influence of participation at a rehabilitation center

• Main Author: Machado,Fernanda
• Publication Date: 2009
• Other Authors: Nunes,Paula V., Viola,Luciane F., Santos,Franklin S., Forlenza,Orestes V., Yassuda,Mônica S.
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Dementia & Neuropsychologia
• Download full: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642009000300241
• topic: Alzheimer's disease; quality of life; psychosocial intervention.

Abstract Quality of life is seldom explored in evaluations of therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer's disease. Objective: To verify whether participation in a cognitive and functional rehabilitation program improves quality of life (QOL) among Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Methods: 19 AD patients participated in this study, 12 of whom attended 24 multi-professional intervention sessions - the experimental group - whereas the remaining 7 comprised the control group. The following tools were used to assess changes: a) Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE); b) Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS); c) Quality of Life in AD evaluation scale (QOL-AD); d) Open question on QOL. Results: Participation had no positive impact on quantitative clinical variables (MMSE, GDS, QOL-AD). The answers to the open question, examined using the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) method, suggested that QOL improved after the intervention. Conclusion: Combining pharmacological treatment with psychosocial intervention may prove to be an effective strategy to enhance the QOL of AD patients.