Loss of functional capacity in elderly individuals with Alzheimer disease.

Background: The functional capacity of elderly individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD) progressively declines.

Objective: To verify the influence of sociodemographic, clinical, staging, mobility, and postural and cognitive balance data on the impairment of the functional capacity of elderly individuals with AD.

Methods: This observational, analytical, cross-sectional study was performed at the Physiotherapy Department of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

SPIKES-D: a proposal to adapt the SPIKES protocol to deliver the diagnosis of dementia.

Dementia is a life-threatening and stigmatizing condition, with devastating impacts on the patient's personal identity and caregivers. There are many barriers to an effective diagnosis disclosure of dementia, including fear of causing distress, uncertainty of diagnosis, caregivers' objection and lack of training in communication skills in undergraduate medical schools. Although some studies have been published on how to help physicians deliver an Alzheimer's disease diagnosis, no specific protocol has been published yet.