抄録
By applying the crises theory we tried to evaluate the mentality and activities of diseased elderly people with different experiences and living circumstances. The analysed data were the results of Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Hasegawa's Dementia Rating Scale (DRS), interviews with each person and the Color Choice Test (CCT).
1) The results of ADL on admission to the hospital and ADL and DRS at the time of investigation differenced depending on sex, living circumstances and economic conditions. These who had been living alone (with no family members) were often hospitalized regardless of their higher ADL.
2) There was a significant but not high correlation between ADL and DRS.
3) Compared with two groups of patients by improved and deteriorated ADL after hospitalization, the above results showed much diversity, varied in each person.
4) With the interview data and on the basis of the crises theory, we found two types of patient. One who gives up and collapses, and one who fights on and gets over. Patients of the former type have never actively overcome the difficulties in their past. Patients of the latter type overcome their difficulties, and still made good use of the experience. Besides these two types we found two inbetween types. Some patients chose only a simple world denoting their simple personality and limited activities (TYPE 1). The others persistently behaved as young day's favorable situations (TYPE 2). The patients of these in-between types, especially outpatients, may have the same prognosis as those collapse type, requiring special consideration medically.
5) CCT revealed a difference between in-and outpatients in their emotional state. Inpatients showed smaller emotional undulations. Five stimulation words added to the previous standard words showed the medical staff had a great influence on the patients' emotions.
From the results we conclude the following two points are important for the medical care of elderly patients: (1)"disease" should be recognized as a crisis, (2) patients should be helped to grow old by focusing on their strange, as well as helping strange materially from the outside. Medical staff should consider these two points stimultaneously.
