Memory, attention, and functional status in community-residing Alzheimer type dementia patients and optimally healthy aged individuals.

This paper reports the results of two studies. Investigation I examined patterns of cognitive performance in healthy controls and mildly-to-moderately impaired patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT). Investigation II focused on the degree to which cognitive test scores could predict functional competence in SDAT patients. The samples included 23 controls, 18 mildly impaired SDAT, and 16 moderately impaired SDAT patients. Cognitive measures included tests of attention, calculation, recognition memory, recall, and orientation. The functional competence measures included maintenance, communication, and recreational abilities. Investigation I found that the patterns of attention and memory that distinguish control from mildly impaired SDAT patients differ from those that distinguish mildly from moderately impaired SDAT patients. Investigation II found that it is possible to predict behavioral competence in individuals with dementia from a knowledge of their attentional and memory deficits.