Cognitive predictors of resistiveness in dementia patients

Resistiveness to physical care among patients with dementia is a common and burdensome problem. Forty-nine nursing home residents with dementia were administered the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and the Royall Executive Interview (EXIT), a specific test of frontal-subcortical function. Nurses rated resistiveness on every shift for 3 days. Correlation with resistiveness ratings was stronger for the EXIT (r=0. 73) than for the MMSE (r=-0. 46); logistic modeling found the EXIT to be a strong independent predictor of resistiveness. Executive dysfunction as measured by the EXIT is a major determinant of resistiveness to care in long-term care residents with dementia, possibly as a result of such patients' tendency toward inertia.