Throughout the last decades, the percentage of people aged 65 years or over has been rising steadily and is projected to reach 15% by 2050. For these people, the probability to get affected by dementia is very high and became one over two for people over 85. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and brings people suffering from it to cognitive impairment. AD manifests itself in several correlated behaviors; the most important and more common of it are wandering, apathy, and depression. For each of these behavioral symptoms, caregivers need to help these people differently, since for example wandering manifests itself in a lot of movement and eloping behavior. Try to distinguish between this is very hard and there is no study nor practical method that allows to do it. This thesis aims to try to distinguish between people affected from AD with wandering and people non-wandering (normal, depress/apathy) using a wearing monitoring device to people living in a nursing home. This is possible using a pattern-based study developed by Martino-Saltzman, Blasch, Morris, and McNeal (1991) where people affected with AD and wandering manifest this illness in three types of movements: random, pacing, and lapping. The proposed method summarizes these values in two indicators, one that refers to the peculiar aspects of wandering (BIRP L) while the other the peculiar aspects of normal subjects (BID). These indicators are then used as indices to identify the degree of belonging of the person to the behavioral domain in the three cases: Depress/Apathy, Normal and Wandering. The proposed method was applied to 7 guests of a residence. The results obtained coincide with the observations made by the operators.
Negli ultimi decenni, la percentuale di persone di età pari o superiore a 65 anni `e aumentata costantemente e dovrebbe raggiungere il 15% entro il 2050. Per queste persone, la probabilità di essere colpiti da demenza `e molto alta e diventa uno su due per le persone oltre 85 anni. Il morbo di Alzheimer (AD) `e la forma più comune di demenza e porta le persone che ne soffrono a menomazioni cognitive. AD si manifesta in diversi comportamenti correlati; i più importanti e più comuni tra questi sono wandering, apatia e depressione. Per ciascuno di questi sintomi comportamentali, i caregiver devono aiutare queste persone in modo diverso, dal momento che per esempio il wandering si manifesta in una grande mole di movimento e in un comportamento fuggitivo. Cercare di distinguere tra questi `e molto difficile e non c’`e n´e uno studio n´e un metodo pratico che permetta di farlo. Questa tesi mira a cercare di distinguere tra le persone affette da AD con wandering e persone non wandering (normale, depressa/ apatica) utilizzando un dispositivo indossabile di monitoraggio per le persone che vivono in una casa di cura. Questo `e possibile utilizzando uno studio basato sul modello sviluppato da Martino-Saltzman, Blasch, Morris, e Mcneal (1991) dove le persone affette da AD e wandering manifestano questa malattia in tre tipi di movimenti: random, pacing, e lapping. Il metodo proposto riassume questi valori in due indicatori, uno che si riferisce agli aspetti peculiari del wandering (BIRP L) mentre l’altro agli aspetti peculiari dei soggetti normali (BID). Questi indicatori sono poi utilizzati come indici per identificare il grado di appartenenza della persona al dominio comportamentale nei tre casi: Depress/Apathy, Normal e Wandering. Il metodo proposto `e stato applicato a 7 ospiti di una residenza. I risultati ottenuti coincidono con le osservazioni fatte dagli operatori.
Drift detection toward wandering in persons affected by cognitive decline
Di ODOARDO, MARIO
2020/2021
Abstract
Throughout the last decades, the percentage of people aged 65 years or over has been rising steadily and is projected to reach 15% by 2050. For these people, the probability to get affected by dementia is very high and became one over two for people over 85. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and brings people suffering from it to cognitive impairment. AD manifests itself in several correlated behaviors; the most important and more common of it are wandering, apathy, and depression. For each of these behavioral symptoms, caregivers need to help these people differently, since for example wandering manifests itself in a lot of movement and eloping behavior. Try to distinguish between this is very hard and there is no study nor practical method that allows to do it. This thesis aims to try to distinguish between people affected from AD with wandering and people non-wandering (normal, depress/apathy) using a wearing monitoring device to people living in a nursing home. This is possible using a pattern-based study developed by Martino-Saltzman, Blasch, Morris, and McNeal (1991) where people affected with AD and wandering manifest this illness in three types of movements: random, pacing, and lapping. The proposed method summarizes these values in two indicators, one that refers to the peculiar aspects of wandering (BIRP L) while the other the peculiar aspects of normal subjects (BID). These indicators are then used as indices to identify the degree of belonging of the person to the behavioral domain in the three cases: Depress/Apathy, Normal and Wandering. The proposed method was applied to 7 guests of a residence. The results obtained coincide with the observations made by the operators.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2021_07_Di Odoardo.pdf
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/177491