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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Planning for the wide range of services necessary for care of those suffering from dementia should take into account ethnoracial differences in rates.
Why it matters
In a random sample of older Latino, African-American and non-Latino White residents of northern Manhattan, dementia was more common, and new cases arose more often, among Latinos and African-Americans; the groups had the same share of dementia diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease, and the gap held when diagnostic criteria or possible depression mislabelling were varied. Education was strongly linked to dementia, and once age and education were accounted for together the ethnic differences were not consistently found, so this observational study does not show that ethnicity itself causes dementia. The authors note the higher rates came with substantial dependence in daily tasks and argue dementia care services should be planned with these differences in mind.
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With the exception of motor performance (walking), the caregiver's report and the performance-based assessment of functional status measure different aspects of a patient's functional status.
Why it matters
This study found that agreement between caregiver reports and direct assessment of daily activities was high for walking, moderate to good for dressing, and only moderate for telephone use, money use, and shopping in people with very mild to mild dementia. It is about assessing function and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Hospitalization with a psychiatric illness is common among the US end-stage renal disease population.
Why it matters
Among dialysis patients, almost 9% were hospitalized with a mental disorder, and such hospitalization was 1.5 to 3.0 times higher than in patients with other chronic illnesses. This describes how often psychiatric illness, including dementia, appears in this population but does not test any treatment or prevention.
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Two patients with nonfluent progressive aphasia, who have been studied longitudinally, are contrasted with a group of 5 patients with fluent progressive aphasia or semantic dementia.
Why it matters
This study compared two patients with nonfluent progressive aphasia with five patients with semantic dementia on neuropsychological tests. It describes differences in language and semantic knowledge, but it is about characterizing these conditions, not treating or curing Alzheimer's disease.
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49/100
The efficacy of the MMSE for screening was measured in a subsample of age- and sex-matched patients with dementia (N = 185) and control subjects (N = 227).
Why it matters
This study examined how well the Mini-Mental State Examination screens for dementia when given by internists in general medical practice, using over 4,000 administrations. It is about screening in routine care and does not address treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The prevalence rate of dementia was low in this Chinese population.
Why it matters
This community survey in Taiwan found a low prevalence of dementia and that older age and illiteracy were associated with higher rates. It does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Data from four studies were used to assess the psychometric properties of the 26 IQCODE items.
Why it matters
This 1994 study cut the 26-question IQCODE, a questionnaire about an older person's cognitive decline that is answered by someone who knows them well, down to 16 questions, using data from four earlier studies. Checked against dementia or delirium diagnoses in a new group of people, the 16-question version "was found to perform as well as the long form." It is a screening questionnaire, not a diagnosis, and the summary gives no accuracy figures or cut-off scores.
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The prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of delirium were studied in 229 elderly patients.
Why it matters
Delirium was common in hospitalized elderly patients and was linked to longer hospital stays, death, and institutionalization. However, the study found that the effect of delirium on 6-month mortality was not significant and appeared explained by greater severity of illness.
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Although 1 million institutionalized elderly persons have urinary incontinence, little is known about the causes of this problem.
Why it matters
This study of institutionalized elderly people found that urinary incontinence has complex and varied causes, with detrusor overactivity the most common. It is about incontinence, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Normative developmental equations provide reliable descriptors of brain electrical activity in people 6 to 90 years old.
Why it matters
This paper describes computer-assisted analysis of brain electrical activity that can classify some brain dysfunctions, including dementia, with high accuracy. It presents the method as a possible aid to diagnosis, not as a treatment, cure, or prevention.
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The Mini-Mental State (MMS) examination is a widely used screening test for dementia.
Why it matters
This paper describes the Modified Mini-Mental State (3MS) examination, which incorporates added test items and more graded scoring compared to the Mini-Mental State examination. It is a cognitive screening tool and does not directly address treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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A self-assessment scale has been developed and found to be a reliable instrument for detecting states of depression and anxiety in the setting of an hospital medical outpatient clinic.
Why it matters
Introduces the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a self-assessment questionnaire for detecting depression and anxiety in hospital medical outpatient clinics. It is not specific to dementia.
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Models for the analysis of longitudinal data must recognize the relationship between serial observations on the same unit.
Why it matters
Describes random-effects models, a statistical approach for analyzing longitudinal data in which the same units are observed repeatedly. It is a general statistics paper; its examples come from a study of the health effects of air pollution.
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Fourteen case histories of persons who had a histological diagnosis of either senile dementia of the Alzheimer type, multiinfarct dementia, or a mixed dementia composed of these two types and who showed evidence of a moderate to severe dementia on psychological testing were rated for the presence of thirteen clinical features comprising Hachinski's Ischemic Score.
Why it matters
In 14 people whose dementia type was confirmed by examining brain tissue, researchers rated the case histories against the 13 features of Hachinski's Ischemic Score. People with "senile dementia of the Alzheimer type" could be told apart from those with multi-infarct or mixed dementia, but multi-infarct and mixed dementia "were indistinguishable from one another". The authors say this verifies the score's usefulness, but the study is small, covers only moderate-to-severe dementia, and does not address treatment or prevention.
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Why it matters
Describes a rating scale for depression. It is not about Alzheimer's disease or dementia.
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Of the 508 eligible MA enrollees, mean age was 82.8 (SD = 7.2) years, 81% were female, and 49% were non-Latino White; 62 participants (12%) were classified as having dementia by the cohort assessment.
Why it matters
This study checked how well Medicare Advantage encounter data identified people with dementia compared with detailed cohort assessments, finding the indicators worked reasonably well. It is about identifying dementia in insurance records, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Among 225 patients (mean age 65.4 years, 54.2% male), MCR prevalence was 16.4%.
Why it matters
In this cross-sectional study of 225 patients with cerebral small vessel disease, motoric cognitive risk syndrome was associated with high total CSVD burden, and subjective cognitive complaints were linked to greater juxtacortical WMH volume. The authors state these findings are hypothesis-generating because of the small number of events and lack of temporality, so they do not establish any treatment or prevention.
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From the database searches, 4796 records were identified.
Why it matters
This rapid review examined clinical checklists of multicomponent non-pharmacological interventions for delirium management in non-ICU inpatient settings, finding that only four of 32 studies included all recommended preventive strategies. It describes the content and gaps of existing checklists and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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During a median 13.7 years of follow-up, prediabetes (n=52,693) was associated with higher risks of vascular dementia (hazard ratio (HR):1.36; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-1.61), stroke (HR:1.09; 95% CI: 1.01-1.16), ischemic stroke (HR:1.10; 95% CI: 1.02-1.19), and intracerebral hemorrhage (HR:1.19; 95% CI: 1.01-1.39) compared with normoglycemia, after adjustment for major confounding factors and across extensive sensitivity analyses.
Why it matters
In this UK Biobank analysis, prediabetes was associated with higher risks of vascular dementia and stroke and with smaller gray matter and hippocampal volumes, and Mendelian randomisation supported causal effects of glycemia on dementia, stroke, and hippocampal atrophy. The authors describe prediabetes as a critical stage for early intervention to preserve brain health.
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Our findings suggest that non-economic social deprivation, especially in terms of access to a grocery store, pharmacy, postal office, and bus stop, might be relevant for maintaining cognitive functioning in old age.
Why it matters
In the DELCODE study, people with higher non-economic social deprivation had lower cognitive functioning and faster cognitive decline, with significant effects only for the Accessibility domain. This links social conditions to cognition but does not test a treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Animal studies indicate that Dang Gui Shao Yao San (DGSYS) may enhance cognitive function in VaD models through mechanisms such as antioxidation and the enhancement of cerebral blood flow.
Why it matters
Pooling seven studies with 420 rats and mice, this review found that Dang Gui Shao Yao San, a traditional herbal formula, improved spatial learning and memory in animal models of vascular dementia and reduced oxidative stress damage. Because all the evidence comes from animals, the authors say better-designed studies are needed before testing it in people.
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The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) launched in England in 2019 to expand the multidisciplinary primary care workforce, but its impact on workload since implementation is unclear.
Why it matters
This study examined workload in English primary care and found that ARRS roles were less likely than GPs to manage consultations for dementia. It provides no information on treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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This longitudinal evidence supports a link between the ALPS-I and cognitive degeneration.
Why it matters
In 973 dementia-free participants, a lower baseline ALPS index (a marker of glymphatic function) predicted later cognitive decline and higher incident dementia risk. This suggests the ALPS index could help identify people at risk, but the study does not show that targeting it prevents dementia.
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Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID), the second most common form of dementia, is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide.
Why it matters
There are currently no FDA-approved therapies for vascular cognitive impairment and dementia, though donepezil, rivastigmine, and memantine have some evidence as cognitive enhancers and are approved in several non-US jurisdictions. Intensive control of hypertension and treatment of hyperglycemia may help prevent cognitive decline, and novel strategies such as noninvasive neurostimulation are still being explored.
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A significant median Centiloid reduction of 30.9 was observed, with a 24.1% amyloid PET negativity rate after six months.
Why it matters
In this real-world cohort, lecanemab reduced amyloid on PET scans, and although cognitive and functional scores still worsened, the rate of progression was slower than in a control group. Brain imaging also showed volume reduction in several regions and increased ventricular volume after treatment.
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.
- Hippocampal volume in women victimized by childhood sexual abuse
- Obstructive sleep apnea treatment and dementia risk in older adults
- Monetary Costs of Dementia in the United States
- Gait disorders in adults and the elderly : A clinical guide
- Clinical recognition of frontotemporal dementia with right temporal predominance: a consensus statement from the International Working Group
- The distinct cognitive syndromes of Parkinson's disease: 5 year follow-up of the CamPaIGN cohort
- The impact of cognitive impairment on rehabilitation outcomes in elderly patients admitted with a femoral neck fracture: a systematic review
- Effect of interventions to reduce potentially inappropriate use of drugs in nursing homes: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials
- The impact of music therapy on language functioning in dementia
- Association of midlife vascular risk and AD biomarkers with subsequent cognitive decline