Discourse and memory deficits in Cantonese speakers with dementia

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the relationships between episodic memory, vSTM, and discourse production in Cantonese-speaking people with dementia (PWD). Discourse samples elicited from 104 participants, including 70 personal narratives and 104 sequential picture description, were qualified in terms of global coherence and informativeness. The PWD’s episodic memory was evaluated, together with measures on vSTM with reference to sub-tasks of Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Oxford Cognitive Screen. Our findings indicated that global coherence and informativeness in discourse were significantly correlated with episodic memory and vSTM. Results of stepwise multiple regressions also suggested that global coherence and information rating of Cantonese version of WAB were the best discourse measures to predict episodic memory and vSTM deficits in PWD.