Disordered eating behaviors in patients with severe Alzheimer's disease: A preliminary study

This study aimed to identify the errors and error monitoring ability in the eating behavior of patients with severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) and evaluate the association between disordered eating behaviors and cognitive dysfunction.

After recording the eating behavior of 20 patients with severe AD, the video was viewed multiple times. The behaviors that did not reflect the achievement of a meal task were identified as errors. The error rate (number of errors/total number of actions) was calculated, and the error-monitoring ability (ability to detect and correct errors) was also evaluated based on the presence or absence of error correction (recognizing and correcting errors). We also examined the associations among the error rate, error-monitoring ability, and cognitive function.

The error rate was approximately 41%. Unless corrected by the caregiver, the participant's errors persisted and similar errors occurred frequently; that is, participants' error-monitoring ability declined. There were no significant associations between the error rate, decreased error-monitoring ability, and cognitive dysfunction.

Disordered eating behaviors were associated with numerous errors in severe AD. Further, patients do not perceive these actions as errors when they occur, and thus fail to recognize the need for correction. This study's results can be useful in devising caregiving strategies that address disordered eating behaviors in patients with severe AD.