Discrepancies between cognition and decision making in older adults.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

There is increasing clinical and legal interest in discrepancies between decision-making ability and cognition in old age, a stage of life when decisions have major ramifications. We investigated the frequency and correlates of such discrepancies in non-demented older adults participating in a large community-based cohort study of aging, the Rush Memory and Aging Project.

Methods

Participants [n = 689, mean age 81.8 (SD 7.6), mean education 15.2 (SD 3.1), 76.8 % female and 93.3 % white] completed a measure of financial and healthcare decision making (DM) and a battery of 19 neuropsychological tests from which a composite measure of global cognition (COG) was derived.

Results

Results indicated that 23.9 % of the sample showed a significant discrepan

SUBMITTER: Han SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4654982 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature