Basic and instrumental activities of daily living in patients with Alzheimer's dementia

Abstract

Alzheimer's dementia (AD) produces multiple alterations, both in the cognitive, behavioral and functional spheres. The basic activities of daily living (BADL) are affected in patients with AD, compared with subjects without cognitive impairment (SWCI). In this research, 50 patients with AD who met the diagnostic criteria established in the DSM-IV-TR and the NINCDS-ADRDA and 60 SWCI with similar sociodemographic characteristics were analyzed. The results show that the most affected BADL are the capacities of food, washing, dressing, arranging, transferring, walking, going up and down stairs and the least affected BADL were urination and the ability to go to the toilet, not being affected differentially in the deposition ability. These findings confirm the general hypothesis that patients with AD have involvement of the BADL compared with the SWCI.