Assessment of language abilities and functionality in adults and elders with Down syndrome

Aging in people with Down syndrome (DS) is often marked by functional decline. People with DS present different degrees of language impairment, which may impact functionality. Objective To assess language abilities and functionality in older people with DS. Methods Forty individuals with DS aged 35 years or older were subdivided into literate and non-literate groups. The Arizona Battery for Communication Disorders in Dementia (ABCD), Object and Action Naming Battery (OANB), and Lawton & Brody Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Scale were used for linguistic and functional assessments. Results The literate group performed better functionally and in all ABCD subdomains (apart from Linguistic Expression) and OANB. There was an association between Word Learning, Repetition, Generative Naming, and functionality in the literate group. In the non-literate group, Word Learning, Object Description, Comparative Questions, and Repetition were associated with total functional scores. Conclusion Functional performance was associated with different linguistic tasks in the literate (verbal memory and executive functions) and non-literate (verbal memory and lexico-semantic process) groups.