TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring Awareness in People With Dementia
T2 - Results of a Systematic Scoping Review
AU - Alexander, Catherine M.
AU - Martyr, Anthony
AU - Savage, Sharon A.
AU - Morris, Robin G.
AU - Clare, Linda
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by an Alzheimer’s Society clinical training fellowship for CMA (grant number AS-CP-17-001).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Background: Awareness of the diagnosis or related changes in functioning varies in people with dementia (PwD), with implications for the well-being of PwD and their carers. Measuring awareness in a clinical setting could facilitate tailored support and optimize involvement in personal health and care decisions. This scoping review aimed to identify validated methods of assessing awareness in dementia and appraise their clinical utility. Method: A systematic search was conducted of English-language publications that measured awareness in PwD, in 6 electronic databases. Search terms included dement*, Alzheimer*, Pick disease, and awareness, unawareness, anosognosia, insight, denial, metacognit*, or discrepanc*. Results: We screened 30,634 articles, finding 345 articles that met our inclusion criteria. We identified 76 measures, most commonly using a discrepancy questionnaire comparing evaluations of function by PwD and an informant. There were 30 awareness measures developed and validated for use in dementia populations but few designed for general clinical use. Conclusions: Although we found a range of clinical indications for measuring awareness, there were few studies investigating clinical applications and few tools designed for clinical purposes. Further investigation and development of a person-centered tool could facilitate health and care choices in mild-to-moderate dementia.
AB - Background: Awareness of the diagnosis or related changes in functioning varies in people with dementia (PwD), with implications for the well-being of PwD and their carers. Measuring awareness in a clinical setting could facilitate tailored support and optimize involvement in personal health and care decisions. This scoping review aimed to identify validated methods of assessing awareness in dementia and appraise their clinical utility. Method: A systematic search was conducted of English-language publications that measured awareness in PwD, in 6 electronic databases. Search terms included dement*, Alzheimer*, Pick disease, and awareness, unawareness, anosognosia, insight, denial, metacognit*, or discrepanc*. Results: We screened 30,634 articles, finding 345 articles that met our inclusion criteria. We identified 76 measures, most commonly using a discrepancy questionnaire comparing evaluations of function by PwD and an informant. There were 30 awareness measures developed and validated for use in dementia populations but few designed for general clinical use. Conclusions: Although we found a range of clinical indications for measuring awareness, there were few studies investigating clinical applications and few tools designed for clinical purposes. Further investigation and development of a person-centered tool could facilitate health and care choices in mild-to-moderate dementia.
KW - Alzheimer
KW - anosognosia
KW - clinical tool
KW - denial
KW - insight
KW - person-centered care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084609108&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0891988720924717
DO - 10.1177/0891988720924717
M3 - Article
C2 - 32400259
AN - SCOPUS:85084609108
SN - 0891-9887
VL - 34
SP - 335
EP - 348
JO - Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
JF - Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
IS - 5
ER -
