title: Association of the spatial layout of the home and ADL abilities among older adults with dementia.
abstract: We investigated the relationship between architectural space syntax measures describing the spatial layout of a home and activities of daily living (ADL) among people with dementia. We visited the homes of 82 participants in a dementia care comparative effectiveness clinical trial and measured the space syntax variables intelligibility and convexity along with several clinical variables, including ADLs. In regression models, we estimated the cross-sectional association between space syntax measures and ADLs. Higher convexity was associated with worse performance of basic but not instrumental ADLs (adjusted β =19.2, P = .02). Intelligibility was not associated with ADLs. These results imply that enclosed rooms with a clearly legible meaning and function might be better memorized and associated with the spatial layout of the home resulting in better basic ADL performance. These results warrant further research on space syntax measures in the home environment of people with dementia, including longitudinal study, which we are pursuing.
authors.affiliation: Dresden University of Technology, Germany. gesine.marquardt@tu-dresden.de
authors.forename: Gesine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marquardt
authors.forename: Deirdre
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Betty S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt
authors.forename: Constantine G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lyketsos
authors.forename: Quincy M
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Samus
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001107:Architectural Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D013028:Space Perception