Avaliação funcional da pessoa com demência através do inventário de avaliação funcional do adulto e do idoso (IAFAI)

: comparação entre o relato do cuidador e a observação direta

Abstract

Introduction: the functional assessment is particularly relevant in the context of dementia. It is one of the criteria used for the diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. Although there is a significant dependence of the clinicians on the informal caregivers’ report to access the status of the person with dementia, it has been confirmed the existence of biases. The nature and direction of the disparity between the person’s performance and the caregivers’ report are not yet well defined and suggest further research. Methods: this is a quantitative observational, comparative and correlational study. It is based on the evaluation of the functional capacity of 32 subjects with dementia(moderate/severe), through two IAFAI application methods: (1) report from the 32 caregivers; (2) direct observation of the functional performance (conducted by an occupational therapist). The results of the caregivers’ report were compared with the results from the direct observation, to examine a possible discrepancy between them. Multiple regressions were conducted to determine the extend to which caregivers’ characteristics and patients’ characteristics were associated with the discrepancy in the results with IAFAI. Results and Conclusions: the results indicate that caregivers tend to attribute higher levels of functional incapacity in comparison with the observed performance in daily activities. Caregivers’ characteristics (depressive symptoms, educational level and the environment’s quality of life) were associated with this discrepancy. Patient’s characteristics (gender and cognitive deterioration) did not associate with the discrepancy. It should be noticed that the clinician must consider the existence of factors that can influence negatively caregivers’ perception of the functional capacity, which can compromise the functional assessment of the person with dementia (moderate/severe).

Date of Award	2 Mar 2018
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Filipa Ribeiro (Supervisor)