Profile of patients with presenile dementia in belo horizonte ( mg )

This study investigated whether participation of seniors in an Open University Program for Elderly (UnATI) may contribute to the maintenance of cognitive performance. The 180 participants were evaluated at the beginning of the first or second semester of 2010 and after six months of participation. The protocol included sociodemographic questions, the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Verbal Fluency Animal Category, the Short Cognitive Test and participation time in the UnATI EACH-USP. The results of the pretest confirmed previous data on the impact of education, age and income on cognitive performance. The post test data indicated that the participants demonstrated higher performance in the episodic memory task. The results suggest that participation at UNATI may favor the maintenance of cognitive abilities.