Forgetting to pay a bill or having difficulty in making good sound money management decisions, may be an early warning sign of Alzheimer’s disease.

A recently study by the National Institute on Aging took 87 senior people with mild cognitive impairment and 76 senior people with no memory issues. Each of these people participated in a money management test. The test was done a year apart from each time and included the following tasks: counting coins, understanding and using a checkbook, purchasing groceries, understanding and using a bank statement, detecting signs of fraud, and preparing bills for the mail.

Out of 87 seniors, 25 of them with “mild cognitive impairment” (MCI) had developed Alzheimer’s or dementia a year later. The scores dropped anywhere from 6% to 9% on checkbook management and financial knowledge and skills.

It has been shown that patients with MCI shows signs at least one year in advance of declining money management skills. This report shows that doctors should be proactive on monitoring seniors (with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) for any decline in their financial skills and either advise them or their caretakers about steps they can take so as to avoid poor money management in the future.

Tagged as: alzheimers disease, dementia, mild cognitive impairment, money management, seniors