The Impact of Alzheimer's Disease on the Marital Relationship
- 1 April 1991
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Gerontologist
- Vol. 31 (2) , 224-237
- https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/31.2.224
Abstract
Caregiver-Alzheimer's afflicted spouse dyads were compared with healthy married couples. The former dyads were incongruent in their perception of tension and agreement over sexual issues, and caregivers differed significantly from well-group spouses on companionship and total marital quality. Only 27% of the Alzheimer's couples versus 82% of the well couples were still sexually active. High sexual activity occurred in 14% (n = 4) of male afflicted spouses (50% of sexually active couples), and of these, two were age ≤6O. High sexual activity was problematic to three-fourths of the female caregiver spouses. Caregivers evidenced adaptation and control; afflicted spouses tended to deny problems and had distorted perceptions of interactions with their caregiver spouses.Keywords
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