Functional Communicative Abilities in Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

The functional communicative abilities of a group of 18 individuals with Alzheimer's disease was documented and their performance on the various categories of the Communicative Abilities in Daily Living (CADL) compared to that of a group of institutionalized non-neurologically impaired controls matched for age, sex and educational level. The Alzheimer patients were impaired in almost all areas of functional communication compared to the control group, scoring significantly below the controls on all categories of the CADL more highly dependent on cognition (e.g. Sequential relationships) than in those categories dealing with more primitive and overlearned communication behaviours (e.g. Social conventions). The possible contributions of visual misperception, frontal lobe damage and semantic memory disorganization to the observed functional communication deficit are discussed. Implications of the findings for the assessment, treatment and management of individuals with Alzheimer's disease are outlined.