Frontotemporal dementia and financial capacity: facing the Cerberus of overestimation or underestimation?

OBJECTIVE This study investigates the performance of people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) on objective assessment of financial capacity with comparison to the estimation of financial capacity by both people themselves and their caregivers. METHOD FTD patients and healthy (age/gender/education-matched) controls from Greece underwent cognitive assessment (memory, attention, executive functioning, visuospatial skills, verbal functions), emotional (anxiety, depression), and financial capacity assessment (Legal Capacity for Property Law Transactions Assessment Scale-LCPLTAS). Additionally, they self-reported on their financial performance and a third-party living with the older participants for both groups reported their estimates of financial performance and their anxiety and depression levels. RESULTS Financial capacity in FTD patients is severely impaired compared to controls, but caregivers of FTD patients tend to overestimate the patients' financial performance, a finding that is not related to the caregivers' depression and anxiety levels or other demographics. FTD patients overestimate their financial capacity. CONCLUSION FTD may have significant impact on financial capacity, but people with FTD tend to overestimate their own financial capacity. This study also indicates that families and caregivers tend to overestimate financial capacity in people with FTD. This has implications for the assessment and care planning of people with FTD in clinical settings.