Domains of awareness in Alzheimer's disease: The influence of executive function

Awareness is a developing area in dementia research and the evaluation of its domains has been increasingly included as part of care for people with Alzheimer's disease (PwAD). Our aim is to examine whether executive dysfunction is associated with awareness domains.

A consecutive series of 75 people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease completed assessments about global cognitive function, executive functioning, and their awareness of disease. Their primary caregivers' dyad provided information about demographics, awareness of disease, dementia severity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and functional status.

Different types of executive dysfunction were presented as a predictor for awareness of disease (cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory), of emotional state (short-term memory and attention) and of social functioning and relationships (visuospatial organization, integrative functions, and abstract thinking). Awareness of cognitive functioning and health condition and of functional activity impairments exhibit only global cognitive function as a predictor.

Findings confirm some degree of independence between awareness domains. The importance of identifying differences in domains of awareness relies in the understanding of awareness as a clinical phenomenon in order to guide the management and support of PwAD and their caregivers.