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Relatives' recall of a psychiatric interview
F M Baker1, W A Rocca, L Barclay
1Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore 21201-1549.
Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders
|January 1, 1991
Summary
Relatives
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Psychiatry
- Gerontology
Background:
- Alzheimer's type dementia (DAT) is a growing public health concern.
- Understanding risk factors for DAT is crucial for prevention and treatment.
- Psychiatric evaluations are part of comprehensive dementia workups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the reliability of family member recall regarding psychiatric evaluations in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT).
- To identify potential factors influencing recall accuracy in a case-control study (CCS) setting.
Main Methods:
- A case-control study (CCS) was conducted with 117 patients diagnosed with DAT.
- Data were collected from 96 relatives who were present during patient psychiatric evaluations.
- Relatives were asked about their patient's history of seeing a psychiatrist.
Main Results:
- Relative recall of psychiatric evaluations for DAT patients did not exceed 50% chance.
- Recall accuracy was not improved by considering relative age or time between interviews.
- No significant difference in recall was observed across different relationship categories (spouse, adult children, others).
Conclusions:
- Family member recall of psychiatric evaluations in DAT patients is unreliable.
- This finding has implications for retrospective data collection in dementia research.
- Further investigation into memory biases and recall limitations in dementia caregivers is warranted.