The three major subgroups: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, cerebrovascular disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related motor neuron disorders.

Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia

• • Inability to ambulate without assistance (FAST 7-C)
  • inability to speak or communicate meaningfully with speech limited to approximately a half-dozen or fewer intelligible or different words (FAST 7-B)
  • Loss of ADL functions including bathing and dressing (FAST 6)
  • Incontinence of bowel and bladder (FAST 6)
  • one or more of the following comorbid conditions in last 3-6 months
    • Aspiration pneumonia
    • Pyelonephritis or upper urinary tract infection
    • Septicemia
    • Decubitus ulcers, usually multiple and stages II or IV
    • Fever, recurrent after antibiotics
    • An altered nutritional status as manifested by:
      • difficulty swallowing or refusal to eat such that sufficient fluid or caloric intake cannot be maintained and the patient refuses artificial nutritional support
      • OR
      • If the patient is receiving artificial nutritional support (NG or G-tube or parenteral hyperalimentation), there must be evidence of an impaired nutritional status as defined in the General Guidelines (greater or equal 10% loss of body weight)

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