Neuropsychological predictors of everyday memory and everyday functioning in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease

The contributions of executive function, naming, visuoperception, and delayed recall to everyday memory abilities and everyday living activities were examined in a sample (n = 24) of mildly impaired Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Everyday memory was rated independently by the patient and by a caregiver, and everyday functioning was rated by a caregiver. For patient-rated everyday memory, verbal recall accounted for 23% of the variance, while naming performance alone accounted for 56% of the variance in caregiver-rated everyday memory. Executive function was a unique and significant predictor of caregiver-rated functional daily living skills, accounting for 40% of the variance. Clinician's ratings of patient unawareness of deficit correlated with the discrepancy between caregiver and patient rating of memory. Caregiver reports of memory impairment appear to be influenced by naming abilities, indicating that language dysfunction may be misinterpreted as reflecting memory impairment. Helping caregivers distinguish between these two abilities may result in more accurate reporting of patients' impairments.