Is Poor Money Management an Early Sign of Alzheimer's Disease?

A poll in the October 2009 issue of Caring Right at Home showed that 30% of respondents cited money management as the greatest source of conflict between family caregivers and their senior loved ones. Now, a new study suggests that decreasing ability to handle financial matters may be a red flag for memory problems.

Inability to handle financial transactions or manage money may be an early indicator that a person with mild memory problems soon is likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Alzheimer's Disease Center.

In a recent study, the researchers followed 87 people with a condition known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), thought to be a precursor to Alzheimer's, and 76 people in a control group who had no memory problems. Participants' ability to manage certain financial skills was assessed at the beginning of the study and then again one year later. The skills included understanding a bank statement, balancing a checkbook, paying bills, preparing bills for mailing and counting coins and currency.

During the course of the year, 25 of the MCI patients had progressed to Alzheimer's disease. Their scores on a financial skills test decreased 6% from their original scores, and 9% for checkbook management skills. The control group and those MCI patients who did not progress to dementia maintained the level of their scores throughout the year.

"Declining financial skills are detectable in patients with mild cognitive impairment in the year before they develop Alzheimer's disease," said Daniel Marson, Ph.D., JD, professor of neurology and director of the UAB Alzheimer's Disease Center. "This indicates that physicians and healthcare providers need to watch patients with MCI closely for declining financial skills, and advise families and caregivers to take steps to avoid negative financial events."

Marson suggests that caregivers can oversee a patient's checking transactions, contact the patient's bank to detect irregularities such as bills being paid twice, or become co-signers on a checking account so that joint signature is required for checks above a certain amount. Online banking and bill payment services are additional options for families.

"Financial capacity has emerged as a key activity of daily living in understanding functional impairment and decline in patients with MCI and dementia," said Marson. "The capacity to manage one's own financial affairs is critical to success in independent living. Impairments in financial skills and judgment are often the first functional changes demonstrated by patients with incipient dementia."

Visit the University of Alabama Birmingham website to learn more about the study and to watch a short video interview with Daniel Marson, Director of the University of Alabama Birmingham Alzheimer Center. Also see Dr. Marson's "Five Warning Signs for Declining Financial Ability in Older Adults."

Click here to learn how home care can help family caregivers help those with Alzheimer's disease.

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