Disclosure of the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: caregivers' opinions in a Brazilian sample

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria

Marta Maria Shimizu¹  I. Raicher¹  Daniel Yasumasa Takahashi¹  Paulo Caramelli¹  Ricardo Nitrini¹ 

[1] ,University of São Paulo School of Medicine Department of NeurologySão Paulo SP ,Brazil

关键词: Alzheimer's disease;    diagnosis;    disclosure;    caregiver;    dementia;    doença de Alzheimer;    diagnóstico;    revelação;    cuidador;    demência;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0004-282X2008000500004

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

BACKGROUND: Disclosure of the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a contentious issue, and has been little studied in developing countries. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of socio-demographic factors and the experience of being a caregiver on opinion about disclosing AD diagnosis to the patient in a Brazilian sample. METHOD: Caregivers of 50 AD patients together with 50 control participants that did not have the experience of being a caregiver of AD patient were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Most of the participants (73.0%) endorsed disclosure of the diagnosis, while caregivers were less prone to disclose (58.0%) than controls (88.0%; p=0.0007). Logistic regression confirmed that only the experience of being a caregiver was associated with a lesser tendency for disclosure endorsement. CONCLUSION: The majority of participants was in favor of disclosing the diagnosis, but caregivers were less willing to disclose the diagnosis to the AD patient.

【 授权许可】

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