University of Graz develops dementia tool for people with mental disabilities

If someone suddenly can't remember their neighbour's name, fails at an addition task or refuses to eat their favourite food, these could be signs of dementia. But how do you recognise the disease if the person concerned barely speaks, can't do maths or often reacts emotionally?
"If a person has intellectual disabilities, carers often don't even notice the decline in their cognitive abilities or interpret it as a consequence of their existing disability," says Barbara Gasteiger-Klicpera, Professor of Inclusive Education and Special Education Psychology at the University of Graz. "Those affected tend to be cautious or sometimes anxious, and many find it difficult to express themselves," says the researcher. They often don't have the skills that are tested in conventional dementia tests. "Early detection is important, however, as simple measures can slow down the progression and improve quality of life," adds Gasteiger-Klicpera. Together with Dominik Pendl and Annalisa La Face, she has now developed a tool that takes individual requirements into account. 

Growing target group
There is a great need for this: by 2030, the number of over-60s with intellectual disabilities will have tripled. "Life expectancy is also increasing for this group of people. In addition, there is a significantly higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, for example, from the age of 40 in the case of trisomy 21," explains the educational scientist. The symptoms appear around a decade earlier than in the general population. At this age, they are not yet expected and are therefore more easily overlooked. In addition, those affected often live in care institutions with changing staff. This makes it difficult to observe gradual changes.

Individual tool
The application for observing the effects of neurodegenerative processes was developed by the researchers in Graz together with employees from the disability care sector and adapted to the needs of day-to-day care. It is easy to use without any previous diagnostic knowledge and can also be installed on local computers so that no sensitive data needs to be uploaded to web servers. "At the beginning, the personal starting level of the respective client is entered, as no standardised data is available as a basis for comparison for this heterogeneous group," explains Gasteiger-Klicpera.
Social contacts, personal preferences or existing impairments, for example, are recorded. The tool then adapts the questions accordingly. "Carers can check certain habits and skills at regular intervals, such as communication, personal hygiene or emotional behaviour, and compare them with previous documentation," explains the researcher. This makes it easier to see changes in detail.
The digital application is available to all interested parties at www.digi-de.at. Its development was funded by the Styrian Chamber of Labour.