Assessment of Dementia in Individuals with Dual Sensory Loss: Application of a Tactile Test Battery

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • 000486092

    Final published version, 609 KB, PDF document

Background/Aims: Individuals with dual sensory loss (DSL) are more likely to experience cognitive decline with age than individuals without sensory loss. Other studies have pointed to the challenges in assessing cognitive abilities in individuals with DSL, as most existing instruments rely on use of vision and hearing. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a Tactile Test Battery (TTB) for cognitive assessment in individuals with DSL. Method: Twenty elderly individuals with DSL, 20 with diagnosed dementia, and 20 without dementia or DSL (controls) completed the following tactile tests developed for the present study: Spatial learning, Spatial recall, Tactile form board, Clock reading, and Naming. The participants with dementia and controls also completed the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: Overall, participants with dementia performed significantly worse on the tactile tests than participants with DSL and control participants. No significant differences on the tactile tests were found between participants with DSL and controls. The TTB and MMSE scores correlated significantly. Conclusion: The findings from this study of applying tactile tests for cognitive examination in individuals with DSL are promising. They indicate that symptoms of dementia can be differentiated from symptoms related to DSL.
Original languageEnglish
JournalDementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. Extra
Volume8
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)12-22
Number of pages11
ISSN1664-5464
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

    Research areas

  • Cognitive decline, Deafblindness, Tactile cognitive tests

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 193762402