Publications by authors named "Caroline Komatsu"
Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are core features of AD and depression is a common co-morbidity in people with AD, affecting overall outcomes and decreasing quality of life.
Method: 205 outpatients with the diagnosis of AD conforming criteria proposed by NINCDS-ADRDA (2011), followed-up at a public university hospital, had their Geriatrics Depression Scale - 15 (GDS -15) and MMSE scores evaluated.
Results: 125 patients (60,97%) were diagnosed with depression and 80 patients (39,03%) were not diagnosed with depression.
Unlabelled: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and degenerative condition affecting several cognitive areas, with a decline in functional abilities and behavioral changes.
Objective: To investigate the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms in older adults with AD and caregiver burden and depression.
Methods: A total of 134 family caregivers of older people diagnosed with AD answered a questionnaire with sociodemographic data and questions concerning the care context, neuropsychiatric symptoms, caregiver burden, and depressive symptoms.
Aim: To determine the direct and indirect relationships of sociodemographic, emotional and behavioral characteristics of family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients who have neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Methods: A total of 134 family caregivers answered a questionnaire with sociodemographic data, and questions regarding the context of care, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Zarit Burden Interview, Dementia Management Strategies Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. A path analysis was used to model the direct and indirect relationships among the selected variables.
Unlabelled: Communication with patients with dementia may be a difficult task for caregivers.
Objective: The aim of this study was to produce a Brazilian transcultural adaptation of an instrument developed in Canada, called the Small Communication Strategies Scale, composed of 10 items constructed from 10 communicative strategies most recurrent in a literature survey.
Methods: Drawing on understanding of the construction of the Small Communication Strategies Scale (SCSS), a Brazilian Portuguese version of the instrument was devised through the following steps: translation, back-translation and semantic-cultural adaptation by a specialized linguist in English-Portuguese translations and application of the comprehension test for the version produced in a group of caregivers of elderly individuals with dementia.