2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
A study of characteristics of and methods to evaluate decision-making capacity (ability) among the elderly with dementia
Project/Area Number |
24792588
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Research Field |
Community health/Gerontological nurisng
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Research Institution | Health Sciences University of Hokkaido |
Principal Investigator |
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Project Period (FY) |
2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
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Keywords | 認知症 / 高齢者 / 意思決定 |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This study aims to identify characteristics of decision-making capacity among the elderly with dementia, and examines methods to evaluate various abilities. We evaluated four functional abilities (understand, appreciate, express a choice, reasoning) by creating a questionnaire about meals based on the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T). Results of interviews with 35 elderly with dementia and 35 elderly without dementia showed that the ‘understand’ ability was significantly lower in the elderly with dementia than in those without, due to the influence of cognitive dysfunction; both groups had similarly high scores in the ‘appreciate’ and ‘express a choice’ abilities. For the ‘reasoning’ ability, the score of the elderly with dementia was significantly lower than in those without, and it is suggested that the elderly with dementia would have difficulties in comparing answer choices and guessing results.
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Free Research Field |
老年看護学
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