Living Alone with Dementia: Lack of Awareness Adds to Functional and Cognitive Vulnerabilities

BACKGROUND: Approximately 25 percent of individuals with dementia live alone, yet little is known about the cognitive and functional factors that impact detection of impairment.

METHODS: Subjects with dementia (n=349) from a community study of dementia management were administered the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and were asked to rate their cognitive status. Each participant’s knowledgeable informant (KI) was interviewed to provide information about the subject’s mental health and levels of cognitive and functional impairment. Subjects with dementia living alone (n=97, 27.8%) were compared to subjects living with others (n=252, 72.2%) regarding functional impairment, psychiatric symptoms, cognitive functioning, and dementia recognition.

RESULTS: While subjects with dementia living alone had significantly fewer ADL impairments (p<0.0001) and less cognitive impairment (p<0.0001) than subjects with dementia who were living with others, nearly half of subjects living alone had 2 or more IADL impairments. Both knowledgeable informants (p<0.001) and primary care physicians (p<0.009) were less likely to detect dementia in subjects living alone, while 77.3% of subjects with dementia living alone rated their cognitive abilities as “good” or “a little worse”. Subjects with dementia living alone and those living with others had similar rates of psychosis (p=0.2792) and depressive symptoms (p=0.2076).

CONCLUSION: Lack of awareness of cognitive impairment by individuals with dementia living alone as well as their knowledgeable informants and physicians, combined with frequent functional impairment and psychiatric symptoms, heightens risk for adverse outcomes. These findings underscore the need for increased targeted screening for dementia and functional impairment among older persons living alone.