"Why miss today worrying about tomorrow?" A qualitative investigation of ways middle-aged and older adults manage dementia-related anxiety.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Dementia-related anxiety (DRA) is the fear or anxiety about a current or future diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia. The purpose of the present study was to examine management of DRA.

Methods and design: In semi-structured qualitative interviews, 50 community-dwelling adults (58-89 years old, M = 70.80, SD = 6.02) without dementia diagnoses reflected on their thoughts and feelings about dementia. A reflexive inductive thematic approach was used to examine ways people managed DRA.

Results: We identified five themes related to managing DRA: monitoring cognitive status (e.g., self-monitoring or objective assessment); active coping strategies (e.g., using external reminders, normalizing age-related change); interpersonal relationships and support (e.g., anticipating benefit of support from others); planning and preparing for potential outcomes (e.g., securing power of attorney, saying goodbyes); and personal responsibility to manage risk or accept diagnosis (e.g., lifestyle factors to reduce dementia risk, thereby reducing risk for burdening others).

Conclusions: Findings suggest internal and external means for coping with DRA that are likely to vary in degrees of usefulness. We consider findings within the context of relevant, established theories, attending to potential clinical interventions for individuals experiencing DRA.