Measures of cognitive reserve in Alzheimer's disease

• Autor(a) principal: Sobral,Margarida
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: Pestana,Maria Helena, Paúl,Constança
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2237-60892014000300160
• topic: Alzheimer's disease; cognitive reserve; education; leisure activities; lifelong occupation; Cognitive Reserve Index; Cognitive Reserve Questionnaire

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive reserve (CR), a hypothetical construct used to obtain information about cognitive aging, describes the capacity of the adult brain to cope with the effects of neurodegenerative processes. This study evaluated CR using a CR questionnaire (CRQ) and a set of variables (education, leisure activities, lifelong occupation) that inform CR. It also developed a CR index, validated the CRQ, and examined the correlation between the different CR measures.METHODS: Functional and neuropsychological capacities of 75 outpatients (mean age: 80.2 years) with a probable AD diagnosis were evaluated. Socio-demographic data and clinical variables were collected. Patients completed two questionnaires: the Participation in Leisure Activities throughout Life questionnaire, and the CRQ.RESULTS: Participants with a greater CR had higher scores in cognitive tests than the elderly with a lower CR. A CR index was developed. CRQ reliability was 0.795 (Cronbach's alpha). There was a close association between the CR Index and the CRQ.CONCLUSIONS: This study found an association between CR measures and education, occupation and participation in leisure activities. The CRQ seems to be a suitable instrument to measure CR in Portuguese populations.