Assessing the Risk of Dementia among the Elderly in Nursing Care

Introduction. Among the elderly, a high number of patients suffer from diseases related to their age increase. Currently extended life expectancy allows us to predict that dementia will intensify due to the increase in the number of elderly people.Aim. The aim of the study was to determine the risk of dementia in a group of seniors residing in the home environment.Material and Methods. The research was conducted amongsts 518 elderly people covered by long-term home care in the Lubelskie and Mazowieckie voivodships. The research employed the Nurses’ Observation Scale for Geriatric Patients.Results. When assessing the respondents using the NOSGER scale, their overall evaluation amounted to 80.64 ± 22.39 points. The respondents functioned best in the field of disturbing behavior (8.67 ± 3.04 points), whereas the IADL was rated the lowest (17.41 ± 4.75 points).Conclusions. The examined respondents presented reduced functional efficiency. Simultaneously, they were characterized by a low risk of dementia. Moreover, education significantly differentiated the functional efficiency of examined seniors. (JNNN 2022;11(1):27–30)