초기 알츠하이머형 치매 환자의 음운인식

Analysis of phonological awareness in patients with mild Alzheimer s disease

본 연구의 목적은 초기 알츠하이머형 치매 노인의 음운인식능력을 분석하고자 하는 것이다. 신경과와 정신과 전문의에 의해 초기 알츠하이머형 치매로 진단받은 환자 16명을 대상으로 음운인식검사를 시행하고, 이를 정상 노인 21명의 음운인식검사 결과와 비교하였다. 또한, 음운인식검사의 음절 과제와 음소 과제 중 치매 노인과 정상 노인을 효율적으로 변별해 주는 과제 수준을 파악하고, 음운인식검사의 하위 과제 중 이 두 집단을 효율적으로 변별해 주는 과제를 찾기 위하여 판별분석을 시행하였다. 그 결과 음운인식검사의 5개의 하위 영역인 수세기, 변별, 합성, 탈락, 대치 모두에서 치매 노인과 정상 노인 간에 유의한 차이가 있었다. 판별분석 결과 음소 수준의 과제보다 음절 수준의 과제가 치매 노인과 정상 노인을 잘 변별해주고, 음운인식검사의 하위 과제 중에서는 합성 과제가 가장 변별력 있는 하위 과제로 나타났다.

The aims of this study were to investigate the phonological awareness of patients with Alzheimer s disease compared with that of normal elderly. Subjects were sixteen patients with mild Alzheimer s disease who were registered in dementia clinic and twenty one normal elderly. Subjects were assessed using phonological awareness test comprised of 5 subtests : counting, discrimination, blending, deletion and substitution for syllable and phoneme levels. Group differences were analyzed with Independent-Samples t-test. Discriminant analysis was used to identify the most efficient indices expecting onset of Alzheimer s disease. There were significant differences in all of the five subparts of phonological awareness test. As a result of discriminant analysis, syllable level task was more discriminant than phoneme level task. In terms of dimensions of phonological awareness, blending task was the most efficient variable for discriminating two groups. These results suggest that patients with mild Alzheimer s disease show difficulties in phonological process which can be one of the behavioral predictors for expecting oneset of Alzheimer s disease. Then, phonological awareness test for elderly need to develop considering demographic and test characteristics. The aims of this study were to investigate the phonological awareness of patients with Alzheimer s disease compared with that of normal elderly. Subjects were sixteen patients with mild Alzheimer s disease who were registered in dementia clinic and twenty one normal elderly. Subjects were assessed using phonological awareness test comprised of 5 subtests : counting, discrimination, blending, deletion and substitution for syllable and phoneme levels. Group differences were analyzed with Independent-Samples t-test. Discriminant analysis was used to identify the most efficient indices expecting onset of Alzheimer s disease. There were significant differences in all of the five subparts of phonological awareness test. As a result of discriminant analysis, syllable level task was more discriminant than phoneme level task. In terms of dimensions of phonological awareness, blending task was the most efficient variable for discriminating two groups. These results suggest that patients with mild Alzheimer s disease show difficulties in phonological process which can be one of the behavioral predictors for expecting oneset of Alzheimer s disease. Then, phonological awareness test for elderly need to develop considering demographic and test characteristics.