Dementia caregivers had a lower mental QOL than community residents. To maintain caregivers' mental QOL, it is necessary to provide younger caregivers with skills or professional interventions for dealing with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, and older caregivers must be offered adequate care support.

The behavioral pattern of patients with frontotemporal dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic How the coronavirus 2019 pandemic affects patients with frontotemporal dementia?

Subjective memory complaints (SMCs) may predict the onset of dementia. The purpose of this study was to clarify characteristics of performance of activities of daily living (ADL) for older adults with SMCs and to offer support options that enable them to maintain their community-based lifestyle. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to 2000 randomly selected members of CO-OP Kagoshima, and 621 responded. 270 responders answered all questions were categorized into SMC (+) group and SMC (−) group (n = 133). Participants were evaluated the Process Analysis of Daily Activity for Dementia. A 2-sample t-test or the Chi-square test were used to compare the averages of continuous variables or the proportions of categorical variables. The results showed the SMC (+) group ranked significantly lower in ability to use the telephone, shop, cook, do housekeeping, manage finances, and manage medications compared with the SMC (−) group. In addition, the SMC (+) group was significantly less independent than the SMC (−) group in many processes requiring the use of tools, operation of machines, management of goods, selection of tools, and monitoring. To enable continued independence of older adults’ experiencing SMCs, it may be important to analyze their performance of ADL and to develop plans for supporting their strengths.

Background/Aims: Age-related changes in impairments in activities of daily living (ADL) in older adults with very mild Alzheimer's disease (vmAD) have been scarcely explored. We clarified the characteristics of ADL impairment and examined how ADL impairments differed by age in such patients compared with community-dwelling cognitively normal older adults. Methods: The participants were 107 older adults with vmAD (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] score ≥24), all of whom were first-visit outpatients at the Dementia Clinic of the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kumamoto University Hospital. The controls were 682 community-dwelling older adults who participated in the 3rd Nakayama Study with MMSE score ≥24. We examined the association of instrumental and basic ADL (IADL and BADL, respectively) independence with the odds of vmAD using multiple logistic regression analysis and determined differences in ADL impairment by age using age-and sex-matched analysis. Results: Impairments in handling finances (OR 57.08), managing medication (OR 5.13), and dressing (OR 3.35; BADL) were associated with greater odds of vmAD. Among those aged 65 years and above, there were fewer patients with vmAD than healthy controls who could independently handle finances and medication. Among patients with vmAD, the percentages of those who could independently manage shopping, food preparation, and housekeeping only decreased after age 74. Age-related decreases in independence were observed in few BADL items; these, however, were temporary. Conclusions: Patients with vmAD show significantly decreased IADL independence from early old age. and the AD and Related Disorders Association [10]. Comparative controls were 1,290 community-dwelling older adults who participated in the 3rd Nakayama Study (Ehime, Japan) [11]. Six hundred and eighty-two older people fulfilled the inclusion criteria of an MMSE score ≥24 and being aged 65 years or older; they were designated as the healthy control (HC) group. Exclusion criteria were (1) diagnosis of dementia and (2) physical diseases, such as stroke, that prominently affect ADL independence. The diagnosis of dementia was established according to DSMIII-R criteria. Both vmAD and HC were designated by senior neuropsychiatrists. This study was approved by the Human Ethics Review Committee of Kumamoto University. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients and their primary caregivers (all family members).

Background: Under the COVID-19 outbreak, the Japanese government has strongly encouraged individuals to stay at home. The aim of the current study was to clarify the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the lifestyle of older adults with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who live alone.Methods: Seventy-four patients with dementia or MCI aged ≥65 years, who regularly visited the dementia clinic of the