Abstract
PURPOSE: Various neuropsychological or cognitive assessments are often conducted before rehabilitation to ascertain patients' function, disability, and environment. However, adequate assessments are not conducted for persons with dementia under the assumption that assessments would burden them. Therefore, this study investigated the perceptions of persons with dementia and their family caregivers regarding cognitive function assessments during hospital rehabilitation and reconsidered the significance of such assessments according to the opinions of those involved. METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted over a 3-month period at a hospital-based rehabilitation center. We administered a semi-structured questionnaire to 31 older persons with dementia (13 men and 18 women; mean age [± SD]: 77 [± 5.7] (range: 66-87 years); mean years of education [± SD]: 12 [± 2.3]; (range: 9-16 years); Alzheimer's disease: 15; mild cognitive impairment (MCI): 15; corticobasal degeneration: 1) and 49 family caregiver dyads (24 men and 25 women, mean age [± SD]: 67 [± 11] years; age range: 46-90 years). The data were interpreted by employing descriptive statistics, and the χ(2), Fisher's exact, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. FINDINGS: Both groups acknowledged the value of neuropsychological assessments, with 94% (95% CI 84.9-100%) of persons with MCI/dementia and 83% (95% CI 73.3-94.0%) of their family caregivers linking them directly to enhanced treatment and care quality. Their positive attitudes were significantly associated with the belief that such evaluations are integral for personalizing and optimizing rehabilitation strategies. IMPLICATIONS: Most individuals with MCI/dementia and their caregivers value detailed neuropsychological assessments for understanding rehabilitation needs, highlighting the importance of integrating comprehensive evaluations into dementia care. However, the single-center nature of our study limits generalizability. Future research with diverse participants is needed to develop scalable, inclusive rehabilitation strategies.