Ageing and dementia in a longitudinal study of a cohort with Down syndrome

Authors:
CARR Janet, COLLINS Suzanne
Journal article citation:
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 27(6), 2014, pp.555-563.
Publisher:
Wiley

Background: A population sample of people with Down syndrome has been studied from infancy and has now been followed up again at age 47 years. Methods: Intelligence and language skills were tested and daily living skills assessed. Memory/cognitive deterioration was examined using two test instruments. Results: Scores on verbal tests of intelligence changed little. Those on a non-verbal test, on self-help skills and on both memory tests showed some decline, even when the scores of those already suffering from dementia were discounted. Conclusions: At age 47, scores on most tests of even the majority of the cohort (i.e. those not definitely diagnosed with dementia) showed some decline. While this includes the scores of people who may subsequently develop dementia, it may also reflect the normal ageing process in this population. (Publisher abstract)

Subject terms:
ageing, dementia, Downs syndrome;
Content type:
research
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN online:
1468-3148
ISSN print:
1360-2322

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