Abstract
BackgroundThe facial expression of medical staff has been known to greatly affect the psychological state of patients, making them feel uneasy or conversely, cheering them up. By clarifying the characteristics of facial expression recognition ability in patients with Lewy body disease, the aim of this study is to examine points to facilitate smooth communication between caregivers and patients with the disease whose cognitive function has deteriorated.MethodsDuring the period from March 2016 to July 2017, we examined the characteristics of recognition of the six facial expressions of “happiness,” “sadness,” “fear,” “anger,” “surprise,” and “disgust” for 107 people aged 60 years or more, both outpatient and inpatient, who hospital specialists had diagnosed with Lewy body diseases of Parkinson’s disease, Parkinson’s disease with dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies. Based on facial expression recognition test results, we classified them by cluster analysis and clarified features of each type.ResultsIn patients with Lewy body disease, happiness was kept unaffected by aging, age of onset, duration of the disease, cognitive function, and apathy; however, recognizing the facial expression of fear was difficult. In addition, due to aging, cognitive decline, and apathy, the facial expression recognition ability for sadness and anger decreased. In particular, cognitive decline reduced recognition of all of the facial expressions except for happiness. The test accuracy rates were classified into three types using the cluster analysis: “stable type,” “mixed type,” and “reduced type”. In the “reduced type”, the overall facial recognition ability declined except happiness, and in the mixed type, recognition ability of anger particularly declined.ConclusionThere were several facial expressions that the Lewy body disease patients were unable to accurately identify. Caregivers are recommended to make an effort to compensate for such situations with language or body contact, etc., as a way to convey correct feeling to the patients of each type.
Highlights
The facial expression of medical staff has been known to greatly affect the psychological state of patients, making them feel uneasy or cheering them up
Subjects This study was conducted from March 2016 to July 2017 by specialists from the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry Hospital, Japan, with 107 subjects 60 years of age or older diagnosed with Lewy body disease (PD [20], Parkinson’s disease with dementia (PDD) [17], and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) [21])
A score of 24 points or more was determined as non-dementia, and a score of 23 points or less was defined as dementia; for the depression scale, subjects completed the Geriatric Depression Scale short-version (GDS-15), a simple 15-question test with two choices, “yes” or “no,” which has shown relatively high sensitivity [23] as an evaluation criterion for depressive symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) [24]
Summary
The facial expression of medical staff has been known to greatly affect the psychological state of patients, making them feel uneasy or cheering them up. Calder et al found that there was a decline in recognition ability of fear and anger, there was no decline in recognition ability of disgust [12]. The results of McDowell et al indicate that there was a decline in recognition ability of neutral and negative facial expressions, but there was no decline in recognition ability of happiness [13]. The results of these previous studies are not completely consistent, they do show that there is not a decline in recognition ability of all facial expressions due to the influence of aging in elderly people; rather, recognition of fear, anger, and sadness is reduced, while the ability to recognize happiness does not decrease
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
