Comparing motor and process ability of persons with suspected dementia in home and clinic settings.
OBJECTIVE
Evaluating functional level of persons with diagnosed or suspected dementia is an important part of occupational therapy. The importance of the environment is often highlighted. We investigated the ability of clients with suspected dementia to perform instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) in the clinic versus in their homes.


METHODS
We used the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) to measure the motor and process skill ability of 19 clients with suspected dementia.


RESULTS
Using two-tailed paired t-tests, we found no overall difference in IADL motor or process performance between the clinic and home setting. However, of the 19 clients, 6 had motor ability measures, whereas 5 had process ability measures that differed significantly between the two settings.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that if we want to know how a person with suspected dementia performs in IADLs in a specific environment we should test him or her in that environment.
Nygård
L
L
Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Family Medicine, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.
Bernspång
B
B
Fisher
A G
AG
Winblad
B
B
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003071:Cognition; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009048:Motor Skills; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis