Unlocking the Value of Neuropsychological Assessments in Rehabilitation: Perspectives from Persons with Dementia and Their Caregivers

IF 1.6 Q3 MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL

Current Therapeutic Research-clinical and Experimental Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1016/j.curtheres.2025.100781

Takako Yoshimura , Aiko Osawa , Shiinchiro Maeshima , Iikue Ueda , Koki Kawamura , Masaki Kamiya , Naoki Itoh , Hidenori Arai

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose

Various neuropsychological or cognitive assessments are often conducted before rehabilitation to ascertain patients’ function, disability, and environment. However, adequate assessments are not conducted for persons with dementia under the assumption that assessments would burden them. Therefore, this study investigated the perceptions of persons with dementia and their family caregivers regarding cognitive function assessments during hospital rehabilitation and reconsidered the significance of such assessments according to the opinions of those involved.

Methods

This cross-sectional observational study was conducted over a 3-month period at a hospital-based rehabilitation center. We administered a semi-structured questionnaire to 31 older persons with dementia (13 men and 18 women; mean age [± SD]: 77 [± 5.7] (range: 66–87 years); mean years of education [± SD]: 12 [± 2.3]; (range: 9–16 years); Alzheimer's disease: 15; mild cognitive impairment (MCI): 15; corticobasal degeneration: 1) and 49 family caregiver dyads (24 men and 25 women, mean age [± SD]: 67 [± 11] years; age range: 46–90 years). The data were interpreted by employing descriptive statistics, and the χ², Fisher's exact, and Kruskal–Wallis tests.

Findings

Both groups acknowledged the value of neuropsychological assessments, with 94% (95% CI 84.9–100%) of persons with MCI/dementia and 83% (95% CI 73.3–94.0%) of their family caregivers linking them directly to enhanced treatment and care quality. Their positive attitudes were significantly associated with the belief that such evaluations are integral for personalizing and optimizing rehabilitation strategies.

Implications

Most individuals with MCI/dementia and their caregivers value detailed neuropsychological assessments for understanding rehabilitation needs, highlighting the importance of integrating comprehensive evaluations into dementia care. However, the single-center nature of our study limits generalizability. Future research with diverse participants is needed to develop scalable, inclusive rehabilitation strategies.

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来源期刊

Current Therapeutic Research-clinical and Experimental 医学-药学

CiteScore

3.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

3 months

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