Assessing patients in the early stages of irreversible dementia. The relevance of patient perspectives.

1 Individuals with Alzheimer's dementia are able to describe their personal responses to the disease, including how the disease has affected their perceptions of self. 2 Individual-centered variables, other than those related to the disease, are associated with quality of life outcomes in individuals with Alzheimer's dementia, including the individuals' personality, age, and education level. 3 The importance of maintenance of social activities and past pleasant activities is shown by the relationships among these variables and quality of life outcomes in individuals with dementia. 4 The quality of the relationship between caregivers and individuals with dementia, including the role-stress experiences by the caregivers, is moderately to strongly associated with the individuals' level of depression, psychological well-being, and productive behaviors.