Dementia in the elderly: Health consequences on household members

Abstract

The growing number of the oldest-old will cause an increase in the number of mentally ill elderly persons in the population, given that no positive evolution of senile dementia is expected in the near future. Living in the household is the best strategy to contain the pace of mental deterioration, to better manage the disease and to maintain as long as possible the vigilance of the demented person. But dementia is one of the most devastating impairments, both for the persons who are affected by it and for their entire family network and friends, and its impact is high on life and well-being for all persons living with the demented elderly and maximum for his/her caregiver. The aim of this work is to evaluate the impact of the presence of an elderly person with dementia on the perceived health of the co-living household members, using data from the Italian health interview survey carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) in 2005.