Using the telephone to call for help and caregiver awareness in Alzheimer disease.

We assessed the ability of 73 patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from our outpatient clinic to demonstrate how they would use the telephone to call for help in case of an emergency. We also assessed their caregivers' awareness of their abilities. Overall, 44% of the patients did not demonstrate how to call for help correctly if they had no written telephone number to call, and 18% did not when they had a written number.

Knowledge of personal information and caregiver awareness in Alzheimer's disease.

We assessed the ability of 73 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to recall important personal information like their names, their caregivers 'names, their addresses, and their telephone numbers. We also assessed their caregivers' awareness of their abilities. There was an association between the abilities of the patients and their Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) scores, with the patients with the lowest MMSE scores making the most errors.