Análisis de los correlatos cognitivos de las actividades instrumentales de la vida diaria tomados a una muestra de adultos mayores.

Abstract

The instrumental activities of daily life (IADL) are complex daily activities that allow adults to live independently and are fundamental for the diagnosis of dementia and mild cognitive impairment, these can be the capacity to use the telephone, the elaboration of the own food, the handling of the medicine or the money. Executive and memory skills have often been identified as predictors of the functional status of older adults. In the present study aimed to assess the cognitive correlates based on two tests that measure the performance of the IADL, a task of organizing pills and financial skills that involved counting change and paying a household bill. A total of 63 older adults attending the Dr. Arsenio de la Torre Gerontological Center (87.3% female, 75.59 ± 6.20 average age, 12.94 ± 3.39 years of schooling) were evaluated in measures based on the performance of money and medication administration and a battery of neuropsychological tests. The participants were free of significant neurological, psychiatric or cerebrovascular diseases and were excluded if they had low scores on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), adjusted to their level of educational attainment as proposed in the literature. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the predictive value of composite measures of memory, executive functioning, visuospatial functioning and language about medication and money management skills.