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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Future studies should consider culturally tailoring interventions for Hispanic/Latino caregivers from differing subcultures, utilizing relevant technology in studies, and evaluating the functional level of the care receiver and assess where he/she is in the disease process continuum.
Why it matters
This review looked for intervention strategies to help Hispanic and Latino caregivers of people with dementia. It identified ten studies, mostly from one clinical trial, and called for more culturally tailored research; it does not address treating or curing the disease.
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Geographic and temporal variation in occurrence of dementia within the US has received little attention despite its importance for generation of new etiologic hypotheses and health services research.
Why it matters
This analysis of death records found geographic and temporal variation in dementia mortality, but most of the increase in Alzheimer's disease rates was explained by changes in how diagnoses were coded. It highlights the need for further research to understand these variations and does not address treatment, cure, or prevention.
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The costs of illness can be huge; medical bankruptcy is a significant problem in the United States [9].
Why it matters
This short piece notes that the costs of illness can be huge and that medical bankruptcy is a significant problem in the United States. It contains no information on treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The burden of dementia will continue to rise globally, particularly in developing countries, many of which lie in the Asia-Pacific region.
Why it matters
This review reports that dementia rates differ between ethnic groups, with migrant populations attaining rates between their homelands and adopted countries, and higher rates in African Americans, Hispanics and native Australians compared to Caucasian Whites. It calls for more research, but it does not test a dementia treatment or cure.
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In the literature it is commonly reported that several spatial abilities decline with normal aging, even though such a decline is not uniform.
Why it matters
This review looks at visuospatial abilities in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease, and notes that the allocentric component of spatial memory has been suggested as a possible predictor of Alzheimer's in people with mild cognitive impairment. It is a review of existing literature and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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This article reports findings from three linked qualitative research projects that explored how Australian general practitioners (GPs) spoke about their experiences in diagnosing dementia and their views on early diagnosis and barriers towards early diagnosis.
Why it matters
Australian general practitioners did not consider early dementia diagnosis particularly important and thought it might harm some patients, and they were skeptical about the advantages of dementia medications. This suggests that improving early diagnosis and treatment may require addressing GP perspectives and the practical context of their older patients' lives.
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Future research should address the question of whether performance-based functional measures, as well as simple queries regarding whether functional activities take longer than usual to complete, may improve the prediction of future cognitive decline and disease progression among those individuals in whom MCI represents impending dementia.
Why it matters
In this cross-sectional study of 50 people with mild cognitive impairment and 59 cognitively normal people, those with mild cognitive impairment performed everyday tasks like telephone use and medication management just as accurately but significantly more slowly. Slower task speed may be an early marker of functional change, but this study did not test any treatment or follow people over time.
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One hundred and ninety-one DKQs from Indian and 55 DKQs from Caucasian (white UK/Irish/European) older people were included in the analyses.
Why it matters
This study found that knowledge of dementia was poor among both Indian and Caucasian older people in Manchester, and especially poor among Indian older people. The authors suggest this lack of knowledge may be one reason for the relative absence of Indian older people in local dementia treatment clinics.
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State Medicaid programs use prior authorization (PA) to control drug spending by requiring that specific conditions be met before allowing reimbursement.
Why it matters
This paper reports that more than a year after the FDA advisory about increased mortality among elderly people with dementia taking atypical antipsychotics, no state Medicaid program had changed its prior authorization policy in response. It discusses the challenges insurers face in responding to emerging drug safety issues.
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The assessment and treatment of pain in persons with cognitive impairments pose unique challenges.
Why it matters
This review discusses challenges in assessing and treating pain in people with cognitive impairments, noting they are less likely to ask for and receive analgesics. It focuses on pain management and does not address treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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38/100
Providing palliative care for residents with dementia in long-term care (LTC) settings is problematic due to their declining verbal abilities and related challenges.
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38/100
Adequate diagnostic information can be considered a basic intervention in dementia care.
Why it matters
This qualitative study examined how patients and carers were affected by being told a dementia diagnosis. It found that disclosure generally did not cause stress and could help with guidance, but it does not address treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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38/100
The lack of valid and reliable instruments designed to measure the experiences of older persons with advanced dementia and those of their health care proxies has limited palliative care research for this condition.
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This study assessed clinical, demographic, facility, and regional factors associated with documented do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders, feeding/medication/other treatment (FMT) restrictions, and living wills among nursing facility residents.
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There is a well-documented tendency for cognitive tests to underestimate the abilities of older people in black and minority ethnic groups.
Why it matters
Standard cognitive tests tend to underestimate the abilities of older people in black and minority ethnic groups, raising the risk of mistaken dementia diagnosis, and adapted or culture-free tests may help. This is about improving screening accuracy, not about treating or curing dementia.
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It has been clearly established that there is an increased incidence of early onset dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) in people who have Down syndrome.
Why it matters
This review examines evidence that biological and psychological factors may influence the risk of dementia of the Alzheimer type in people with Down syndrome. It highlights limitations in study design and the need for better diagnostic criteria and does not report any treatment or prevention.
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Disability, characterised by the loss of ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL), is a defining feature of dementia that results in growing caregiver burden and the eventual need for alternative care or nursing home placement.
Why it matters
This review states that functional impairment in dementia is multifaceted and can be measured with various clinical instruments. It reports that cholinesterase inhibitors have the potential for modest but measurable effects on activities of daily living.
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We find a notable discord between physician opinion, reported practice, and the literature regarding PEG tubes in advanced dementia that reveals some of the barriers to decreasing the referral of these patients for PEG.
Why it matters
This survey of 195 primary care physicians found that many believe feeding tubes have benefits in advanced dementia, such as reducing aspiration pneumonia and improving survival, and more than half believe they are the standard of care. It is about physician beliefs and decision-making regarding feeding tubes, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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We describe a 76-year-old man (ADY) with dynamic aphasia in the setting of a degenerative frontal lobe dementia: primary progressive dynamic aphasia.
Why it matters
This case study describes a 76-year-old man with dynamic aphasia in the setting of degenerative frontal lobe dementia who had preserved singing and prosody. It is a description of language and musical function in one patient, not a treatment or cure for Alzheimer's disease.
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38/100
The objective was to summarize recent findings about the clinical features, diagnosis and investigation of dementia with Lewy (DLB) bodies, together with its neuropathology, neurochemistry and genetics.
Why it matters
This review summarizes clinical features, diagnosis, neuropathology, neurochemistry, and genetics of dementia with Lewy bodies, noting that cognitive failure correlates more with cortical Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites than with Alzheimer-type pathology. It is about understanding and diagnosing dementia with Lewy bodies, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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The review of the literature disclosed that research on the experience of dying is limited; most of the studies have been conducted in acute care hospitals among people who were dying of cancer.
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Behavioral and psychological symptoms are highly prevalent in dementia.
Why it matters
This work presents psychometric data on the Dutch version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, a tool for measuring behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. It concerns symptom measurement only and does not address treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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In a statewide survey, dementia was found in 3% of adults age 40+; 6%, age 60+; and 12%, age 80+.
Why it matters
In a statewide survey, dementia was found in 3% of adults age 40 and over, 6% at age 60 and over, and 12% at age 80 and over, while among adults with Down syndrome the rates were 22% at age 40 and over and 56% at age 60 and over. The authors say care systems will need to become more alert to dementia and improve their diagnostic and care management resources.
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38/100
The United States is becoming more ethnically diverse, and Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) are one of the most rapidly growing ethnic minority groups.
Why it matters
This article describes how traditional values and practices of Asian and Pacific Islander cultures affect perceptions of dementia, caregiving, and help seeking. It offers implications for practice, policy, and research but reports no treatment, cure, or prevention findings.
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A small feasibility study was performed in Italy to evaluate whether the special care unit (SCU) model could minimize behavioral disturbances in demented patients.
Why it matters
This small feasibility study in Italy found that moving 16 residents with dementia to a special care unit reduced behavioral problems but did not improve functional abilities or cognitive status after six months. It is preliminary and addresses care environment and behavior management, not curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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.
- Advance Care Planning, Race, and Age
- Medications That Older Adults in Hospice Care in the United States Take, 2007
- Life-Course Psychosocial Stress and Risk of Dementia and Stroke in Middle-Aged and Older Adults
- Identifying Exercise Interventions That May Slow the Progression of Cognitive Decline in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Scoping Review
- Feasibility and Tolerability of Performing Portable MRI for Neurological Disorders in an Outpatient Neurology Clinic: A Prospective Cohort
- R WE ready for reimbursement? A round up of developments in real-world evidence relating to health technology assessment: part 19
- Psychiatric morbidity in terminally ill cancer patients. A prospective study
- The role of reduced fitness to drive due to medical impairments in explaining crashes involving older drivers
- Trends in Noninvasive and Invasive Mechanical Ventilation Among Medicare Beneficiaries at the End of Life
- Prevalence and characteristics of patients with advanced chronic conditions in need of palliative care in the general population: a cross-sectional study