Linguistic abilities in patients with Alzheimer's Disease of mild and moderate degree

• Grant number: 11/22659-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Karin Zazo Ortiz
• Grantee: Camila Vieira da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a memory decline as first symptom, which is associated with deficit in one or more cognitive functions, such as executive functions, visuospatial abilities, praxis, attention and language. Language disorders become more frequent as the disease progresses. The evaluation of language in patients with AD may occur through objective tools such as Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) that although it is a test designed to evaluate aphasia, it allows the evaluation of different linguistic skills at various levels of complexity. Objective: To compare the linguistic changes in patients with Alzheimer's disease in mild and moderate stages. Method: This is a retrospective study in which it was analyzed performance through Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination of 31 individuals - 12 with mild and 19 with moderate - with a diagnosis of probable AD treated at Behavioral Neurology Division of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery in São Paulo Federal University. (AU)