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.
-
The real prevalence of dementia in a given population must be determined through prevalence studies, using validated screening tests.
Why it matters
This study validated a cognitive screening test combining the Mini Mental State Examination and Pfeffer Functional Activities Questionnaire in 100 people over 65 in Chile. It is about diagnosing cognitive impairment, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
-
Informant- and self-perceptions of QOL differed substantially.
Why it matters
In small groups of patients with mild Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and elderly controls, self-reported quality of life did not differ significantly across groups, and patient-informant agreement was similar. Caregiver reports rated quality of life lower in Alzheimer's disease than in controls, and neuropsychiatric symptoms were the most consistent predictor.
-
45/100
Cholinesterase inhibitors with additional nicotinic activity, such as galantamine, may be useful in PD patients with dementia (PDD) since stimulation of nicotinic receptors may prevent the down-regulation that is likely to accompany cholinesterase inhibition and facilitate dopamine release in the striatum.
Why it matters
In this open-label trial, sixteen patients with Parkinson's disease dementia received galantamine for 8 weeks and were assessed for cognitive, psychiatric, and motor symptoms. The small size and open-label design mean these preliminary results cannot establish whether galantamine is an effective treatment.
-
Proper screening of depression among older adults depends on accurate cut-off scores.
Why it matters
This study identified suitable cut-off scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia for screening Japanese older adults. It is about detecting depression, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
-
Processing of speech is obligatory. Thus, during normal speech comprehension, the listener is aware of the overall meaning of the speaker's utterance without the need to direct attention to individual linguistic and paralinguistic (intonational, prosodic, etc.) features contained within the speech signal.
Why it matters
This study looked at which brain areas are active during normal speech comprehension, not at any treatment or prevention of Alzheimer's disease. It found that understanding speech depends on regions in both temporal lobes, more so on the left, but it did not test any therapy or cure.
-
45/100
Nursing home residents with dementia were more often treated without antibiotics in the Netherlands (23%) than in Missouri (15%).
-
PT assessment and utilization were uncommon in this group.
-
Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a behaviorally focal dementia syndrome with deterioration of language functions but relative preservation of other cognitive domains for at least the first two years of disease.
Why it matters
In people with primary progressive aphasia who had word-finding trouble but understood conversation, MRI showed less grey matter in left superior temporal and inferior parietal regions. Activity in the classical language areas looked normal, but patients also used extra areas (fusiform gyrus, precentral gyrus, intra-parietal sulcus) that controls did not, and more of that extra activity went with worse naming and task scores. The authors say this may be the brain compensating or failing to switch off areas it normally quiets. The study describes brain changes only and tests no treatment.
-
In community-dwelling elderly persons, the MNA detects risk of malnutrition and life-style characteristics associated with nutritional risk while albumin levels and the BMI are still in the normal range.
Why it matters
This work describes the Mini Nutritional Assessment as a tool that detects risk of malnutrition in community-dwelling elderly people while albumin levels and BMI are still in the normal range. It does not report any treatment, cure or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
-
In animals, exposure to severe stress can damage the hippocampus.
-
Use of systemic antibiotics is prevalent in the treatment of patients with end-stage dementia, despite the limited utility and discomfort associated with the use of these agents.
-
Diabetes mellitus is associated with moderate cognitive deficits and neurophysiological and structural changes in the brain, a condition that may be referred to as diabetic encephalopathy.
Why it matters
This review describes diabetes as associated with moderate cognitive deficits and brain changes, sometimes called diabetic encephalopathy, and as increasing dementia risk particularly in the elderly. It discusses animal models of these mechanisms and suggests that understanding them could one day identify targets for drugs to treat or prevent this diabetic complication.
-
In contrast to clinic-based samples, the most frequently occurring complications of PD in this community-based sample were axial features such as postural instability with falls.
-
45/100
Study objective We sought to determine the prevalence of mental status impairment in elderly emergency department patients and to assess documentation of and referrals by emergency physicians for mental status impairment after discharge from the ED.
-
Delirium is an independent marker for increased mortality among older medical inpatients during the 12 months after hospital admission.
-
The results of this study showed that the Turkish version of the SMMSE has high reliability and validity for the diagnosis of mild dementia in Turkish population.
Why it matters
This study found the Turkish version of the Standardized Mini Mental State Examination had high reliability and validity for diagnosing mild dementia. It concerns a diagnostic test, not treating, curing, or preventing dementia.
-
45/100
Twenty-one studies based on 18 samples were identified.
Why it matters
This review of studies comparing racial, ethnic, and cultural groups found that White caregivers were more likely to be spouses and tended to report greater depression and more stress than African American caregivers. Findings on coping and social support were mixed, and the review notes that future studies need to clarify how race, ethnicity, and culture affect the caregiving experience.
-
Several patient characteristics were significantly associated with colonic preparation quality independent of preparation type, compliance with preparation instructions, and procedure starting time.
-
To provide a detailed description of the recommendations of a Palliative Care Service (PCS) and to describe the impact of these recommendations on the care of terminally ill patients in an academic medical center, we describe data from all consecutive patients referred by their attending physicians to the PCS of an academic teaching hospital over a 15-month period.
-
45/100
Patients with poststroke major depression have a greater severity of cognitive impairment than nondepressed patients even when matched for size and location of stroke lesion.
Why it matters
This double-blind trial compared nortriptyline with placebo in patients with poststroke depression to see whether cognitive function improved. It examined a treatment for mood and cognition after stroke, not a treatment, cure or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
-
45/100
Participants chose to forego more invasive or long-term treatments at a higher rate than less invasive, short-term treatments in all health states.
-
GMHR is a reliable, valid, global bedside measure of severity of general medical comorbidity for patients with dementia that can be used for clinical and research purposes.
-
The aims of this study were to identify risk factors for hip fracture in men aged 50 years or more.
Why it matters
This study of hip fracture risk factors in men found that senile dementia and alcoholism were associated with significantly increased risk of hip fracture. It does not address whether treating dementia or alcoholism would prevent hip fractures.
-
The authors report on clinical features and mortality rates in a group of 149 patients with apparent idiopathic parkinsonism starting before the age of 40 years.
-
Quality of life (QOL) is an important outcome measure in caring for terminally ill patients.
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.
- Hearing impairment is associated with cognitive decline, brain atrophy and tau pathology
- How to create value with unobtrusive monitoring technology in home-based dementia care: a multimethod study among key stakeholders
- Survival time tool to guide care planning in people with dementia
- End-of-life care in general practice: A cross-sectional, retrospective survey of 'cancer', 'organ failure' and 'old-age/dementia' patients
- Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia
- Metabolic Syndrome and the Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Progression to Dementia: Follow-up of the Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Study Cohort
- Why are patients with progressive nonfluent aphasia nonfluent?
- Does the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) influence dementia evaluation and diagnosis in Virginia? (S29.004)
- Diagnosis and Management of Dementia: Review
- Racial and Ethnic Differences in Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use Among Medicare Beneficiaries