Quality of life and Alzheimer’s disease: Influence of participation in a rehabilitation center

Quality of life is seldom explored in evaluations of therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer's disease. Objective To verify whether participation in a cognitive and functional rehabilitation program improves quality of life (QOL) among Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Methods 19 AD patients participated in this study, 12 of whom attended 24 multi-professional intervention sessions - the experimental group - whereas the remaining 7 comprised the control group. The following tools were used to assess changes: a) Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE); b) Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS); c) Quality of Life in AD evaluation scale (QOL-AD); d) Open question on QOL. Results Participation had no positive impact on quantitative clinical variables (MMSE, GDS, QOL-AD). The answers to the open question, examined using the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) method, suggested that QOL improved after the intervention. Conclusion Combining pharmacological treatment with psychosocial intervention may prove to be an effective strategy to enhance the QOL of AD patients.