How to Take a History From a Patient With Dementia

Dementia or senility is a decline of mental function such as memory, judgment and ability to learn. Typically, dementia occurs with people over 65, and at least 4 million people in the United States alone are affected by it, according to The Merck Manual of Geriatrics. Numerous diseases can cause dementia including stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Taking a patient history is necessary for treatment, but it can be difficult interviewing a patient suffering from dementia because they have serious problems with two or more functions of the brain, such as language and memory. However by employing the following steps, you will be able to effectively take the history of a patient suffering from dementia.

Instructions

• 1

  Look for cognitive changes. The signs can appear in the form of difficulty understanding written and spoken communication, forgetfulness, disorientation, difficulty finding words, not knowing common facts such as place, date and time.

• 2

  Look for common psychiatric symptoms. Find clues in the form of hallucinations, abnormal beliefs, depression, anxiety, fearfulness, paranoia, suspiciousness, apathy and mood swings.

• 3

  Look for any changes in your patient's personality. Find out if the patient has the following signs: being socially withdrawn, being inappropriate, easily frustrated, explosive anger, excessively flirtatious and other extremes in mood or action.

• 4

  Ask your patient and his relatives questions about behavioral problems. Seek out clues that can be things such as restlessness, noisiness, wandering, agitation and getting out of bed at night for no reason.

• 5

  Note any changes in day-to-day functioning. Identify any signs in the form of difficulty handling and counting money, making mistakes at work, trouble with shopping, forgetting recipes when cooking meals, neglecting self-care and neglecting household chores that need to be done.