Comparing motor and process ability of persons with suspected dementia in home and clinic settings.

OBJECTIVES Evaluating functional level of persons with diagnosed or suspected dementia is an important part of occupational therapy. The importance of the environment is often highlighted. We investigated the ability of clients with suspected dementia to perform instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) in the clinic versus in their homes. METHOD We used the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) to measure the motor and process skill ability of 19 clients with suspected dementia. RESULTS Using two-tailed paired t-tests, we found no overall difference in IADL motor or process performance between the clinic and home setting. However, of the 19 clients, 6 had motor ability measures, whereas 5 had process ability measures that differed significantly between the two settings. CONCLUSION The results suggest that if we want to know how a person with suspected dementia performs in IADLs in a specific environment we should test him or her in that environment.