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42/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 42 out of 100. Caregiving

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

This paper examined the emotional impact of diagnosis disclosure on recently diagnosed people with dementia. Thirty patient/caregiver dyads attending a Geriatric Day Hospital Program in Ottawa, Canada participated in this qualitative exploratory study. Data sources included: (a) audio-tapes of diagnosis disclosure meeting, (b) in-depth interviews with patients and caregivers within one week of disclosure, and (c) focus group interviews with caregivers within one month. Patients exhibited a range of emotional responses which can be divided into three broad categories: (a) responses suggesting a lack of insight and/or an active denial of the diagnosis, (b) grief reactions/emotional crisis related to the experience of actual or anticipated losses associated with dementia, and (c) positive coping responses to maximize the disease outcome. Participants went through stages of emotional response to their diagnosis: not noticing symptoms, noticing & covering up, or noticing & revealing; diagnostic process & disclosure; confirming or shock; denial, crisis, or maximizing; disorganization or adaptation. There is a need to develop a better understanding of the experience of people with dementia at the critical point of diagnosis disclosure in order to design supportive interventions to maximize adaptive coping responses.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Aminzadeh, F., Byszewski, A., Molnar, F. J., & Eisner, M. (2007). Emotional impact of dementia diagnosis: exploring persons with dementia and caregivers' perspectives. Aging & mental health. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860600963695

Vancouver

Aminzadeh F, Byszewski A, Molnar FJ, Eisner M. Emotional impact of dementia diagnosis: exploring persons with dementia and caregivers' perspectives. Aging & mental health. 2007. doi:10.1080/13607860600963695. PMID: 17558579.

BibTeX

@article{aminzadeh2007-17558579,
  author  = {Aminzadeh, F. and Byszewski, A. and Molnar, F. J. and Eisner, M.},
  title   = {{Emotional impact of dementia diagnosis: exploring persons with dementia and caregivers' perspectives}},
  journal = {Aging \& mental health},
  year    = {2007},
  doi     = {10.1080/13607860600963695},
  pmid    = {17558579},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860600963695}
}

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How to read this study

Design: our record does not state a study design, so check the methods section of the original before weighing the result.
Size: the record gives no participant count. Look for one in the original before trusting a pattern.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Patients exhibited a range of emotional responses which can be divided into three broad categories: (a) responses suggesting a lack of insight and/or an active denial of the diagnosis, (b) grief reactions/emotional crisis related to the experience of actual or anticipated losses associated with dementia, and (c) positive coping responses to maximize the disease outcome.

Why it matters

This qualitative study of 30 patient/caregiver dyads found that people with dementia show a range of emotional responses to diagnosis disclosure, including denial, grief reactions, and positive coping. It suggests a need for supportive interventions at the point of diagnosis to help maximize adaptive coping responses.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 42/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 40 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 42 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Aging & mental health)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Aging & Mental Health: journal h-index 153 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2007 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 228 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	10.9 citations a year over 21 year(s) since 2007
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 3.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 9 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 38 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	— / 4	OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Marg Eisner holds only 6 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score
Institution's track record	1 / 3	University of Ottawa: institution h-index 908 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 17558579)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	40 / 96	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 40 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 42 out of 100.
Total	42 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

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