Each study has a usefulness score out of 100 (rubric version 4.0). Tap a score to see what makes it up.
Highest usefulness score first. Studies without a score come last.
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Our purpose was to characterize a state of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson's disease (PD) (PD-MCI) that would be analogous to the MCI that is posited as a precursor of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Why it matters
This study characterized a state of mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease using neuropsychological testing criteria. It concerns defining and categorizing cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease, not treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Cognitive impairment can be influenced by a number of factors.
Why it matters
This review of population studies found that certain dietary patterns, such as high saturated and trans fat intake, were linked to higher Alzheimer's risk, while fish and some B vitamins were linked to lower risk. These are associations from observational studies, so they do not prove that changing diet prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) frequently have difficulties with spatial orientation in their day-to-day life.
Why it matters
In a task requiring people to find a hidden goal in a circular arena, those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment affecting a single domain were impaired on subtests that depend on allocentric orientation. The authors suggest spatial navigation testing may help monitor disease progression or evaluate presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease.
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Our results suggest that some aspects of the palliative care provided to elderly patients with end-stage chronic diseases, admitted to acute care hospitals, could be improved.
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Our results validate the PHQ-9 and revalidate the BDI against a gold-standard measure for depressive disorders in the dialysis population.
Why it matters
This study validated the Beck Depression Inventory and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 as depression screening tools in 62 dialysis patients, excluding those with dementia. It is about diagnosing depression in dialysis patients and does not address treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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We found WMH and lacunes to be independently associated with general cognitive function in a sample of independently living elderly.
Why it matters
In 633 independently living elderly people, greater severity of white matter hyperintensities and lacunes on MRI was associated with worse scores on general cognitive tests. This is an observational study and does not show that treating small vessel disease prevents or cures Alzheimer's.
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Both abnormal initiation/perseveration and abnormal Stroop Color-Word scores were associated with an unfavorable response of geriatric depression to citalopram.
Why it matters
In this 8-week citalopram trial, abnormal initiation/perseveration and abnormal Stroop Color-Word scores were associated with unfavorable response of geriatric depression to citalopram. It concerns treatment response in geriatric depression, not the treatment, cure, or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
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Microglia, one of three glial cell types in the central nervous system (CNS), play an important role as resident immunocompetent and phagocytic cells in the CNS in the event of injury and disease.
Why it matters
This review describes microglia as the brain's resident immune and phagocytic cells that respond to injury and disease and can release cytotoxic molecules or neurotrophic factors. It reports no treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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While the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was originally developed to screen for dementia and delirium, many neurologists use this measure as a screening instrument for 'cognitive impairment' in hospitalized stroke patients.
Why it matters
This study tested the MMSE in 34 stroke patients and 34 healthy controls and found the test has limitations for detecting cognitive impairment in acute stroke. It is about the accuracy of a screening tool in stroke patients, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Physical activity may help preserve cognitive function and decrease dementia risk, but epidemiologic findings are inconsistent.
Why it matters
In 3,375 US adults aged 65+ followed for an average of 5.4 years, those who did four or more different physical activities had about half the relative risk of dementia of those doing 0–1 (RR 0.51, 95% CI 0.33–0.79), while the most energetic quarter showed no clear difference from the least (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.61–1.19). The association was stronger in people without the APOE ε4 allele and absent in carriers, with a similar pattern for Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. This is an observational study: it shows an association, not that activity prevents dementia, and the authors say the mechanisms need further study.
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Identifying pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a major issue in clinical diagnosis.
Why it matters
In 31 people with mild cognitive impairment followed for 2 years, a pattern of reduced blood flow on SPECT together with memory deficits predicted progression to probable Alzheimer's dementia with 77.8% sensitivity and specificity. It is a small prediction study and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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A chart-based instrument for delirium, which should be useful for patient safety and quality-improvement programs in older persons, was validated.
Why it matters
This prospective validation study of 919 older hospitalized patients found that a chart-based instrument for identifying delirium had 74% sensitivity and 83% specificity compared with interviewer ratings using the Confusion Assessment Method, while administrative codes had only 3% sensitivity. It concerns identifying delirium in hospital charts, not Alzheimer's disease treatment, cure or prevention.
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The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and pattern of neuropsychological impairment in cohorts of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals across pre- and post-HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) eras.
Why it matters
This study found that the prevalence of neuropsychological impairment was not significantly different between the pre-HAART and HAART eras, and was not significantly reduced in patients with undetectable plasma viral load. The pattern of impairment changed, with improvement in some functions but deterioration in learning efficiency and complex attention, suggesting these deficits reflect active injury rather than burnt-out damage.
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Participation rates were good in both phases of the NEDICES baseline study, and this was influenced by age, sex and setting of the participants.
Why it matters
This paper describes the methods and baseline demographics of a door-to-door survey in central Spain designed to study dementia, essential tremor, Parkinson's disease and stroke. It reports participation rates and demographic data and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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The concept of cognitive reserve (CR) suggests that innate intelligence or aspects of life experience like educational or occupational attainments may supply reserve, in the form of a set of skills or repertoires that allows some people to cope with progressing Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology better than others.
Why it matters
This review describes cognitive reserve as a concept in which innate intelligence or life experience such as education or occupation may allow some people to cope with progressing Alzheimer's disease pathology better than others. It reports epidemiological evidence that leisure activities of an intellectual and social nature are associated with slower cognitive decline and may reduce dementia risk, and that such activities may delay the onset of clinical manifestations of dementia.
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Although several results were consistent with prior findings, caregiving indicators (i.e., burden and self-rated health) and community-based service use were significant predictors of earlier placement.
Why it matters
This study of people with dementia living at home found that caregiver burden, caregiver self-rated health, and use of community-based services predicted earlier placement in a nursing home. It did not test any treatment or cure for dementia itself.
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Dementia affects about 40% of patients with Parkinson's disease; the incidence of dementia in these patients is up to six times that in healthy people.
Why it matters
This review describes dementia in Parkinson's disease as linked to Lewy-body-type damage spreading beyond the substantia nigra, and notes small studies suggesting cholinesterase inhibitors may help. The treatment evidence comes from small studies and is not established as a cure.
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49/100
The prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) and other types of parkinsonism in three elderly populations of central Spain was investigated using a door-to-door, two-phase approach.
Why it matters
This study measured how common Parkinson's disease and other types of parkinsonism are in elderly populations in central Spain. It found that the prevalence of these conditions was similar to levels reported in other elderly populations, and that many cases of Parkinson's disease had not been diagnosed before the study.
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The extent of heterogeneity in a meta-analysis partly determines the difficulty in drawing overall conclusions.
Why it matters
A statistics paper proposing measures, H and I2, of how much the impact of differences between studies (heterogeneity) affects a meta-analysis. It is not about dementia; the authors recommend that one or both be presented in published meta-analyses.
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The General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG) consists of cognitive test items and historical questions asked of an informant.
Why it matters
This paper describes the design and testing of the GPCOG, a brief dementia-screening instrument for use by general practitioners that consists of cognitive test items and historical questions asked of an informant. Its validity was assessed by comparison with the criterion standard of diagnoses of dementia derived from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition).
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The current study sought to determine if discrepancies in quality of education could explain differences in cognitive test scores between African American and White elders matched on years of education.
Why it matters
This study found that reading level, used as a measure of education quality, largely explained cognitive test score differences between African American and White elders matched on years of education. It concerns how tests are interpreted, not any treatment, cure or prevention.
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There is a shortage of adequate screening instruments for dementia in poorly educated populations and non-English-speaking groups.
Why it matters
Adding a functional questionnaire or a neuropsychological battery to a mental status test did not significantly improve sensitivity for dementia and significantly decreased specificity. This concerns dementia screening accuracy, not treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Screening caregivers for burden and depression and designing interventions to decrease the consequences of behavioral disturbance on caregivers would be relevant avenues to explore to decrease institutionalization of people with dementia.
Why it matters
In a Canadian study following 326 people with dementia living at home, about half (50.9%) moved into long-term care within five years, after a median of 41 months. Moves were more likely with greater disability, an Alzheimer's diagnosis, a caregiver over 60 or one who was not a spouse or child, and severe caregiver burden. Burden itself tracked the person's behavioural symptoms and the caregiver's low mood. These are associations, not proven causes, but the authors suggest screening caregivers for burden and depression as an avenue to explore.
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Vascular dementia (VaD) incorporate different vascular mechanisms and changes in the brain, and have different causes and clinical manifestations.
Why it matters
This paper proposes research criteria for subcortical vascular dementia to select a more homogeneous group for clinical drug trials, since current criteria for vascular dementia select an etiologically and clinically heterogeneous group. The authors expect that subcortical vascular dementia will show a more predictable clinical picture, natural history, outcome, and treatment responses, but note the definition still requires additional empirical data.
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Overall, the CDT may be as effective as the MMSE or CASI as a first-level dementia screen for clinical use in multiethnic, multilingual samples of older adults.
Why it matters
The Clock Drawing Test was about as effective as the MMSE or CASI as a first-level dementia screen in a multiethnic sample, though all tests were affected by education. This supports using a simple, language-flexible test to help detect dementia in diverse older populations.
From across this topic
10 of the 7,967 studies in this topic, picked by a fixed rule (a hash of each study's address), not by score or date; each page of this list shows a different 10. The same 10 appear here every time.
- Subclinical hyperthyroidism and the risk of dementia. The Rotterdam study
- Prediction of 6-month mortality in nursing home residents with advanced dementia: validity of a risk score
- A Fragmented Memoir
- Predictors and assessment of cognitive dysfunction resulting from ischaemic stroke
- Depressive disorders in primary care: prevalence, functional disability, and identification
- Learning to remember: cognitive training-induced attenuation of age-related memory decline depends on sex and cognitive demand, and can transfer to untrained cognitive domains
- Urinary incontinence and its association with functional physical and cognitive health among female nursing home residents in Switzerland
- A new systematic method of measurement and diagnosis of "mild cognitive impairment" and dementia according to ICD-10 and DSM-III-R criteria
- Interplay between Brain Pericytes and Endothelial Cells in Dementia
- Association of Medial Temporal Lobe Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Memory Function in Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment