COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED SPOUSES AS PRIMARY CAREGIVERS FOR DEMENTED ELDERLY PEOPLE

OBJECTIVE: To describe problems of dementia patients whose spousal car egivers are also cognitively impaired. DESIGN: Retrospective chart rev iew. SETTING: The geriatric assessment clinic at University of Califor nia, San Diego, which is one center for the California State sponsored Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center Program. PATIENTS: During the period from January 1992 through May 1994, 65 patients com pleted the assessment and met the entry criteria of being demented and having a spousal caregiver. Twelve of the spouses scored six or more error points on the Katzman Short Orientation-Memory-Concentration Tes t. MEASUREMENTS: Patient data included age, living situation, other ca regivers, use of formal and informal support systems, profiles of medi cal, cognitive, and functional ability, caregiver interactions, and re commendations from the evaluation. MAIN RESULTS: Dementia patients wit h cognitively impaired spouses utilized fewer community resources (P=. 021) and experienced difficulty with medication compliance (P=.041) mo re often than those with cognitively normal spousal caregivers. CONCLU SIONS: Older caregivers of patients suffering from dementia should be screened for cognitive problems.