Project 460599

There are more than 500,000 Canadians living with dementia, and by 2031, that number is expected to increase to 830,000. Identifying key early signs of dementia will help to determine which individuals are at higher risk of developing the disease. This will allow for early interventions, which have been shown to have more impact earlier in the neurodegenerative process. The current study will examine several promising early signs, including concerns about one's own cognition (i.e., issues with thinking or memory), family/friends' concerns about changes in behaviour (i.e., agitation and social withdrawal), as well as both self and family/friend ratings of social relationship quality. We hypothesize that self observations and family/friend reports of mental and behavioural changes, together with changes in social relationships, will create a reliable and more sensitive predictor of cognitive decline than any single predictor. We will recruit older adults from the community (55+) both with and without cognitive concerns (who do not show any impairment based on cognitive tests). At three time points over a 2-year period, participants will complete a battery of cognitive tests, and a designated family member or friend will complete a questionnaire evaluating any behavioural changes. Both the participant and the family member/friend will complete questionnaire regarding the quality of their relationship and any changes that have occurred. We will look at the combined effect of cognitive concerns, family/friend reported behavioural changes and social relationship quality on cognition (as evaluated through testing) over the 2-year period. Findings from our study will contribute to development of more comprehensive yet targeted tools for the assessment of risk for cognitive decline and dementia. Findings may also serve to inform early interventions for individuals and families/caregivers including behavioural, psychological, and social interventions