Compensation Strategies in Older Adults: Association With Cognition and Everyday Function:

Background/Rationale:Compensation strategies may contribute to greater resilience among older adults, even in the face of cognitivedecline. This study sought to better understand how compensation strategy use among older adults with varying degrees of cognitiveimpairment impacts everyday functioning.Methods:In all, 125 older adults (normal cognition, mild cognitiveimpairment, dementia) underwent neuropsychological testing, and their informants completed questionnaires regarding everyday compensation and cognitiveand functional abilities.Results:Cognitively normal and mild cognitiveimpairment older adults had greater levels of compensation use than those with dementia. Higher levels of neuropsychologicalfunctioning were associated with more frequent compensation use. Most importantly, greater frequency of compensation strategy use was associated with higher levels of independence in everyday function, even after accounting for cognition.Conclusion:Use of compensation strategies is associated with hig...