Differences in Response Between Healthy Older Adults and Patients with Alzheimer's Disease When Using Memory Aids to...

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) lose the ability to manage their medications as the disease progresses. Several methods have been used to administer medication to patients at home using Internet of Things (IoT) devices for rehabilitation, but no studies have yet been published investigating the factors that influence the success or failure of this approach in older adults and patients with AD. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate differences in medication-related behaviors and their influencing factors in older adults, both with and without AD, using IoT.

The study population consisted of 57 patients in the AD group and 34 older adults in the non-AD one, The AD group consisted mainly of patients with mild disease. Both groups conducted a medication management experiment using medication management applications delivered through either "Arata" or "Skype", and their behaviors and influencing factors were examined.

Operational errors were observed in both groups. Influencing factors that were common to both "Arata" and "Skype" were comprehension of spoken language and prospective memory. The influencing factors that differed were disorientation and attention.