The impact of Alzheimer's disease on the marital relationship.

Caregiver-Alzheimer's afflicted spouse dyads were compared with healthy married couples. The former dyads were incongruent in their perception of tension and agreement over sexual issues, and caregivers differed significantly from well-group spouses on companionship and total marital quality. Only 27% of the Alzheimer's couples versus 82% of the well couples were still sexually active. High sexual activity occurred in 14% (n = 4) of male afflicted spouses (50% of sexually active couples), and of these, two were age less than or equal to 60. High sexual activity was problematic to three-fourths of the female caregiver spouses. Caregivers evidenced adaptation and control; afflicted spouses tended to deny problems and had distorted perceptions of interactions with their caregiver spouses.