Long-term prognosis of patients with severe memory disorders

Abstract

This paper describes the long-term prognosis of 50 people with severe memory disorders arising from cerebral pathology. A further three people could not be contacted and one refused to take part in the study. Of the 50, seven had died and 43 were reassessed. Most subjects were living outside institutional care, 15 of them were in paid employment. Only four were in jobs similar to those held before their injury or illness, and two of these were working on a part time basis. Just under one-third of the subjects showed an improvement in memory functioning as assessed by a standardised memory test, a small number had deteriorated, and some 60% showed little or no change since leaving rehabilitation some 5–10 years before. Despite this, most people had learned coping methods to bypass or compensate for their memory problems through the increased use of memory aids and strategies.