Neuropsychological assessment of patients with alzheimer’s Disease in the presence or absence of spouses

Abstract

A common question in the neuropsychological testing of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease is whether or not patients should be tested in the presence of their spouses. We addressed this issue by assessing the neuropsychological performances of Alzheimer’s Disease patients in the presence or absence of spouses. Results showed no significant differences between patients’ performances in the presence or absence of spouses on tests assessing general cognitive abilities, episodic memory, working memory, inhibition and flexibility. No significant differences were observed regarding either anxiety or depression in patients when tested alone, compared to when spouses were attending. However, patients demonstrated higher verbal fluency when tested alone compared to when spouses attended. Clinicians may carry out neuropsychological assessment in the presence or absence of spouses, except when assessing verbal fluency. In such cases, clinicians should privilege testing patients alone or, if spouses attend the test, take into account this variable when interpreting patients’ performances.

Keywords:

• Alzheimer’s Disease
• dyads
• neuropsychological assessment
• spouses

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the LABEX (excellence laboratory, program investment for the future) DISTALZ (Development of Innovative Strategies for a Transdisciplinary approach to Alzheimer disease).