To compare the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among a wide range of ethnoracial groups in the US.

Non-probabilistic longitudinal clinical research.

Participants enrolling into the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center Unified Data Set recruited via multiple approaches including clinician referral, self-referral by patients or family members, or active recruitment through community organizations.

Cognitively normal individuals 55 and older at the initial visit, who reported race and ethnicity information, with at least two visits between September 2005 and November 2018.

Ethnoracial information was self-reported and grouped into non-Latino Whites, Asian Americans, Native Americans, African Americans (AAs), and individuals simultaneously identifying as AAs and another minority race (AA+), as well as Latinos of Caribbean, Mexican, and Central/South American origin. MCI was evaluated clinically following standard criteria. Four competing risk analysis models were used to calculate MCI risk adjusting for risk of death, including an unadjusted model, and models adjusting for non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors.

After controlling for sex and age at initial visit, subhazard ratios of MCI were statistically higher than non-Latino Whites among Native Americans (1.73), Caribbean Latinos (1.80), and Central/South American Latinos (1.55). Subhazard ratios were higher among AA+ compared to non-Latino Whites only in the model controlling for all risk factors (1.40).

Compared to non-Latino Whites, MCI risk was higher among Caribbean and South/Central American Latinos as well as Native Americans and AA+. The factors explaining the differential MCI risk among ethnoracial groups are not clear and warrant future research.

This study compared dementia knowledge between older Chinese adults in Melbourne, Australia, and Beijing, China, and explored factors associated with dementia knowledge between these two groups. Ultimately, this study aimed to inform the development of tailored dementia education programs for older Chinese adults.

A cross-sectional design was employed in this study.

Participants were recruited from 5 Chinese community senior groups in Melbourne and 10 community health centers in Beijing from March to May 2019.

A total of 379 older Chinese adults aged 50 and over completed the questionnaire, including 153 from Melbourne and 226 from Beijing.

Dementia knowledge was assessed using the Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS). Demographic characteristics, dementia-related experience, and the mental health status of participants were collected. Stepwise linear regression was used to analyze the factors associated with dementia knowledge.

In general, older Chinese adults in Melbourne and Beijing reported similar levels of dementia knowledge for both the overall ADKS scale (mean ± SD: 17.2 ± 2.9 in Melbourne vs. 17.5 ± 2.9 in Beijing, p > 0.05) and the seven subdomains. Of the subdomains, the highest correct response rates were observed in the life impact of the dementia subdomain, and the lowest rates were observed in the caregiving subdomain. Stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that younger age and self-reported dementia worry were significantly associated with higher levels of dementia knowledge in the Melbourne group, whereas a positive family history of dementia was significantly associated with higher levels of dementia knowledge in the Beijing group.

Older Chinese adults living in Melbourne and Beijing share similar levels of dementia knowledge, but factors associated with their knowledge are different. These findings will inform the development of culturally and socially appropriate dementia education programs for older Chinese populations in different countries.

Despite the policy relevance of carer burden, limited research focuses on family carers’ experience of carer burden among different disease groups. This study aimed to examine differences in carer burden among family carers of people with and without dementia.

Secondary data analysis was conducted on a national cross-sectional dataset. Multivariable ordered logistic regression was used to analyze four levels of carer burden (low, mild, moderate, high). The main independent variable was dementia diagnosis, and controls included variables relating to the care recipient, family carer, and context of care.

The original survey was funded by Irish Health Service Executive and undertaken by the National Centre for the Protection of Older People in Ireland.

The original dataset consisted of 2,311 family carers of older people in Ireland. Approximately, one-fifth of this sample had a diagnosis of dementia.

Carer burden was measured using the standardized 22-item Zarit Burden Interview. Care-recipient dependency was measured using the Activities for Daily Living Scale. Sociodemographic details and information about the context of caring were collected using self-report scales.

In our model, dementia diagnosis and dependency level were significantly associated with carer burden. Family carer and context of care variables including gender, marital status, education, residence, co-residence, and perceived support showed significant relationships with carer burden. Our results highlighted significant differences in carer burden distribution; in particular, family carers of people with dementia were less likely to report low or mild carer burden (−6.95 ppts and −3.64 ppts, respectively) and more likely to report moderate or high carer burden (8.46 ppts and 2.13 ppts, respectively).

Our findings suggest that family carers of people with dementia may experience additional challenges associated with caring. Therefore, family carers of people with dementia may require tailored social supports to maintain good health and well-being.

To establish a structural equation model for exploring the direct and indirect relationships of depressive symptoms and their associated factors among the Chinese elderly population.

A cross-sectional research. The 2015 data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were adopted.

CHARLS is an ongoing longitudinal study assessing the social, economic, and health status of nationally representative samples of middle-aged and elderly Chinese residents.

A total of 5791 participants aged 60 years and above were included.

Depressive symptoms were used as the study outcome. Sociodemographic characteristics, poor health status, unhealthy habits, and sleep duration were used as predictors. Confirmatory factor analysis was first conducted to test the latent variables. Structural equation model was then utilized to examine the associations among latent variables and depressive symptoms.

The mean age of the participants was 68.82 ± 6.86 years, with 55.53% being males. The total prevalence of depressive symptoms was 37.52%. The model paths indicated that sociodemographic characteristics, poor health status, unhealthy habits, and sleep duration were directly associated with depressive symptoms, and the effects were 0.281, 0.509, −0.067, and −0.162, respectively. Sociodemographic characteristics, unhealthy habits, and sleep duration were indirectly associated with depressive symptoms, mediating by poor health status. Their effects on poor health status were −0.093, 0.180, and −0.279, respectively. All paths of the model were significant (P < 0.001). The model could explain 40.9% of the variance in the depressive symptoms of the Chinese elderly population.

Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with sociodemographic characteristics, poor health status, unhealthy habits, and sleep duration among Chinese elderly population. The dominant predictor of depressive symptoms was poor health status. Targeting these results might be helpful in rationally allocating health resources during screening or other mental health promotion activities for the elderly.

To evaluate the effect of the PROPER intervention in nursing home residents with dementia on the prevalence of psychotropic drug use and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

A cluster-randomized controlled design with two parallel groups (intervention versus usual care) and assessments at 0, 6, 12, and 18 months.

Thirty-one dementia special care units within 13 long-term care organizations in the Netherlands.

Three hundred eighty nursing home residents with dementia

The PROPER intervention consisted of a structured and repeated multidisciplinary medication review, supported by education and continuous evaluation.

Prescriptions of antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics, and occurrence of neuropsychiatric symptoms.

The prescription of any type of psychotropic drugs increased in the intervention group, and decreased in the control group, with an estimated difference of 3.9 percentage points per 6 months (p = 0.01). Effects for the individual drug groups were minor (differences of 1.6 percentage points and below per 6 months) and not statistically significant. The occurrence of neuropsychiatric symptoms remained stable in both the intervention and control groups during the follow-up of 18 months.

The PROPER intervention failed to demonstrate effectiveness in reducing the prevalence of psychotropic drugs. It may be interesting to enrich the intervention with components that address personal attitudes and communication between nursing home professionals, not only with respect to the prescription of psychotropic drugs, but also to neuropsychiatric symptoms.

The study has been registered in The Netherlands Trial Register (NTR3569).

The number of older people choosing to relocate to retirement villages (RVs) is increasing rapidly. This choice is often a way to decrease social isolation while still living independently. Loneliness is a significant health issue and contributes to overall frailty, yet RV resident loneliness is poorly understood. Our aim is to describe the prevalence of loneliness and associated factors in a New Zealand RV population.

A resident survey was used to collect demographics, social engagement, loneliness, and function, as well as a comprehensive geriatric assessment (international Resident Assessment Instrument [interRAI]) as part of the “Older People in Retirement Villages Study.”

RVs, Auckland, New Zealand.

Participants included RV residents living in 33 RVs (n = 578).

Two types of recruitment: randomly sampled cohort (n = 217) and volunteer sample (n = 361). Independently associated factors for loneliness were determined through multiple logistic regression with odds ratios (ORs).

Of the participants, 420 (72.7%) were female, 353 (61.1%) lived alone, with the mean age of 81.3 years. InterRAI assessment loneliness (yes/no question) was 25.8% (n = 149), and the resident survey found that 37.4% (n = 216) feel lonely sometimes/often/always. Factors independently associated with interRAI loneliness included being widowed (adjusted OR 8.27; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.15–16.48), being divorced/separated/never married (OR 4.76; 95% CI 2.15–10.54), poor/fair quality of life (OR 3.37; 95% CI 1.43–7.94), moving to an RV to gain more social connections (OR 1.55; 95% CI 0.99–2.43), and depression risk (medium risk: OR 2.58, 95% CI 1.53–4.35; high risk: OR 4.20, 95% CI 1.47–11.95).

A considerable proportion of older people living in RVs reported feelings of loneliness, particularly those who were without partners, at risk of depression and decreased quality of life and those who had moved into RVs to increase social connections. Early identification of factors for loneliness in RV residents could support interventions to improve quality of life and positively impact RV resident health and well-being.

To investigate if depression risk modifies the association between frailty and mortality in older adults.

Ongoing cohort study.

Albacete city, Spain

Eight hundred subjects, 58.8% women, over 70 years of age from the Frailty and Dependence in Albacete (FRADEA) study.

Frailty phenotype, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), comorbidity, disability, and drug use were collected at baseline. Six groups were categorized: (G1: non-frail/no depression risk; G2: non-frail/depression risk; G3: prefrail/no depression risk; G4: prefrail/depression risk; G5: frail/no depression risk; and G6: frail/depression risk). Mean follow-up was 2542 days (SD 1006). GDS was also analyzed as a continuous variable. The association between frailty and depression risk with 10-year mortality was analyzed.

Mean age was 78.5 years. Non-frail was 24.5%, prefrail 56.3%, frail 19.3%, and 33.5% at depression risk. Mean GDS score was 3.7 (SD 3.2), increasing with the number of frailty criteria (p < 0.001). Ten-year mortality rate was 44.9%. Mortality was 21.4% for the non-frail, 45.6% for the prefrail, and 72.7% for the frail participants, 56% for those with depression risk, and 39.3% for those without depression risk. Mean survival times for groups G1 to G6 were, respectively, 3390, 3437, 2897, 2554, 1887, and 1931 days. Adjusted mortality risk was higher for groups G3 (HR 2.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4–3.1), G4 (HR 2.5; 95% CI 1.7–3.8), G5 (HR 3.8; 95% CI 2.4–6.1), and G6 (HR 4.0; 95% CI 2.6–6.2), compared with G1 (p < 0.001). Interaction was found between frailty and depression risk, although they were independently associated with mortality.

Depression risk increases mortality risk in prefrail older adults but not in non-frail and frail ones. Depression should be monitored in these older adults to optimize health outcomes. Factors modulating the relationship between frailty and depression should be explored in future studies.

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is the second-most common cause of young-onset dementia. Personality and behavior changes lead to high caregiver stress and burden, but little support is available. Our aim is to present the evidence on the characteristics, challenges and unmet needs of caregivers as well as on possible interventions.

We conducted a scoping review on caregiver burden using PubMed, Web of Science and ScienceDirect. A total of 69 articles were considered eligible and were analyzed in the present study.

Through the analysis of 69 empirical articles, our results show that caregivers of patients with FTLD are often younger in age, have children and find behavioral disturbances to be the most burdensome. Nine studies assessed the needs of and support for caregivers. Ten studies compared the burden in different forms of FTLD, 19 compared FTLD to other types of dementia, and one compared the caregiver burden between two countries. Eight studies reported on interventions for caregivers or interventions taking burden into account. One study assessed the support structure for caregivers of FTLD patients. Five case reports, eight research overviews and three reviews addressed specific needs and challenges.

Further research should reproduce and validate efficacious interventions and focus on underage children of FTLD patients and findings from non-Western countries. Additionally, support structures for FTLD caregivers should be assessed and extended. Awareness both in the wider population and among healthcare professionals is an urgent need for the future.

To examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Relevant Outcome Scale for Alzheimer’s disease (CROSA) among persons with AD (PWAD) and their caregivers in China.

A single-arm, open-label, multi-center study.

Two tertiary general hospitals in Shanghai.

A total of 336 PWAD and their family caregivers.

The PWAD completed a 12-week treatment with memantine after a baseline assessment.

The CROSA and the Chinese versions of the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale, the Disability Activity of Dementia, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire, the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Chinese Family Caregivers.

The Cronbach’s alpha for the total scale was 0.900, and the intraclass correlation coefficient and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were 0.910 (P < 0.001) and 0.836 (P < 0.001), respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the two-factor model to be consistent with the original version. For the known-group validity, the total score of the CROSA classified the PWAD into three stages and three MMSE score groups. Moderate to large correlations with the validated scales confirmed the criteria validity of the CROSA, and the convergent validity was confirmed via testing a hypothesized caregiving model; however, only minimal responsiveness was found among the deterioration group after 12 weeks of treatment with memantine.

The reliability and validity of the CROSA was good or acceptable for use in daily clinical settings. Further studies are needed to examine the psychometric properties of the scale.

Because of inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between sleep quality and cognitive function in people with age-related memory complaints, we examined how self-reports of sleep quality were related to multiple domains of both objective and subjective cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults.

A cross-sectional study involving analysis of baseline data, collected as part of a clinical trial.

Two hundred and three participants (mean age = 60.4 [6.5] years, 69.0% female) with mild memory complaints were asked to rate their sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and their memory performance using the Memory Functioning Questionnaire (MFQ), which measures self-awareness of memory ability. Neurocognitive performance was evaluated using the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Trail Making Test, Buschke Selective Reminding Test, and the Brief Visuospatial Test – Revised (BVMT-R).

Total PSQI scores were significantly associated with objective measures of sustained attention (CPT hit reaction time by block and standard error by block) and subjective memory loss (MFQ frequency and seriousness of forgetting). The PSQI components of (poorer) sleep quality and (greater) sleep disturbance were related to (worse) sustained attention scores while increased sleep latency and daytime sleepiness were associated with greater frequency and seriousness of forgetting.

Sleep quality is related to both objective measures of sustained attention and self-awareness of memory decline. These findings suggest that interventions for improving sleep quality may contribute not only to improving the ability to focus on a particular task but also in reducing memory complaints in middle-aged and older adults.

To develop a staff training intervention for agitation in people with severe dementia, reaching end-of-life, residing in nursing homes (NHs), test feasibility, acceptability, and whether a trial is warranted.

Feasibility study with pre- and post-intervention data collection, qualitative interviews, and focus groups.

Three NHs in South East England with dementia units, diverse in terms of size, ownership status, and location.

Residents with a dementia diagnosis or scoring ≥2 on the Noticeable Problems Checklist, rated as “severe” on Clinical Dementia Rating Scale, family carers, and staff (healthcare assistants and nurses).

Manualized training, delivered by nonclinical psychology graduates focusing on agitation in severe dementia, underpinned by a palliative care framework.

Main outcomes were feasibility of recruitment, data collection, follow-up, and intervention acceptability. We collected resident, family carer, and staff demographics. Staff provided data on resident’s agitation, pain, quality of life, and service receipt. Staff reported their sense of competence in dementia care. Family carers reported on satisfaction with end-of-life care. In qualitative interviews, we explored staff and family carers’ views on the intervention.

The target three NHs participated: 28 (49%) residents, 53 (74%) staff, and 11 (85%) family carers who were eligible to participate consented. Eight-four percent of staff attended ≥3 sessions, and we achieved 93% follow-up. We were able to complete quantitative interviews. Staff and family carers reported the intervention and delivery were acceptable and helpful.

The intervention was feasible and acceptable indicating a larger trial for effectiveness may be warranted.

Issues concerning the association among attachment anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation among the elderly have rarely been explored. The present study investigated the relationship among attachment anxiety, depression and perceived support concerning suicidal ideation among older people.

Cross-sectional study

Tertiary care settings

The authors recruited 191 elderly patients from 10 tertiary care settings in Thailand

Participants provided data on their suicidal ideation and suicidal attempt using Module C of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Their attachment anxiety was assessed using the revised Experience of Close Relationship questionnaire (ECR-R-18), while their level of depression was investigated using the Geriatric Depression Scale. In addition, their perception of being supported was ascertained using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. We performed two mediation analyses and moderation analyses separately using the product of coefficients approach. First, we created a mediation model to examine the role of attachment anxiety and depression on suicidal ideation. Second, a moderated mediation model was created to explore the relationship of perceived social support as a moderator of depression.

We found that depression significantly mediated the association between attachment anxiety and suicidal ideation. The association between depression and suicidal ideation was moderated by the level of perceived social support.

Findings of this study may broaden our understanding of how suicidal ideation develops among the elderly and further stimulate future research exploring the interaction of positive and negative factors of suicidality among the elderly. Implications of the findings were also discussed.

To assess the influence of mild behavioral impairment (MBI) on the cognitive performance of older adults who are cognitively healthy or have mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Secondary data analysis of a sample (n = 497) of older adults from the Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center who were either cognitively healthy (n = 285) or diagnosed with MCI (n = 212). Over half of the sample (n = 255) met the operationalized diagnostic criteria for MBI. Cognitive domains of executive function, attention, short-term memory, and episodic memory were assessed using a battery of neuropsychological tests.

Older adults with MBI performed worse on tasks of executive function, attention, and episodic memory compared to those without MBI. A significant interaction revealed that persons with MBI and MCI performed worse on tasks of episodic memory compared to individuals with only MCI, but no significant differences were found in performance in cognitively healthy older adults with or without MBI on this cognitive domain. As expected, cognitively healthy older adults performed better than individuals with MCI on every domain of cognition.

The present study found evidence that independent of cognitive status, individuals with MBI performed worse on tests of executive function, attention, and episodic memory than individuals without MBI. Additionally, those with MCI and MBI perform significantly worse on episodic memory tasks than individuals with only MCI. These results provide support for a unique cognitive phenotype associated with MBI and highlight the necessity for assessing both cognitive and behavioral symptoms.

To explore the relationships between dose changes to antipsychotic and/or benzodiazepine medications and resident outcomes, including variations in neuropsychiatric symptoms, quality of life (QoL), and social withdrawal, within a multicomponent, interdisciplinary antipsychotic and benzodiazepine dose reduction program.

Prospective, observational, longitudinal study.

The Reducing Use of Sedatives (RedUSe) project involved 150 Australian Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs) incorporating auditing and benchmarking of prescribing, education, and multidisciplinary sedative reviews.

A convenience sample of LTCFs (n = 28) involved in RedUSe between January 2015 and March 2016.

Permanent residents (n = 206) of LTCFs involved in RedUSe taking an antipsychotic and/or benzodiazepine daily. Residents were excluded if they had a severe psychiatric condition where antipsychotic therapy should generally be maintained long-term (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia) or were considered end-stage palliative.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI)), QoL (Assessment of Quality of Life-4D), and social withdrawal (Multidimensional Observation Scale for Elderly Subjects-withdrawal subscale) were measured at baseline and 4 months where nursing staff completed psychometric tests as proxy raters.

There was no evidence that psychometric measures were worsened following dose reductions. In fact, dose reduction was associated with small, albeit non-statistically significant, improvements in behavior, particularly less physically non-aggressive behavior with both drug groups (−0.36 points per 10% reduction in antipsychotic dose, −0.17 per 10% reduction in benzodiazepine dose) and verbally agitated behavior with benzodiazepine reduction (−0.16 per 10% dose reduction), as measured with the CMAI. Furthermore, antipsychotic reduction was associated with non-statistically significant improvements in QoL and social withdrawal.

Antipsychotic and benzodiazepine dose reduction in LTCFs was not associated with deterioration in neuropsychiatric symptoms, QoL, or social withdrawal. Trends toward improved agitation with antipsychotic and benzodiazepine dose reduction require further evaluation in larger, prospective, controlled studies.

This study examined the effect of daily life reading activity on the risk of cognitive decline and whether the effect differs regarding education levels.

A longitudinal study with 6-, 10-, and 14-year follow-up.

Face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires at home.

A representative sample of 1,962 Taiwanese community-dwelling older persons aged 64 and above, followed up in four waves of surveys over 14 years.

Baseline reading frequencies were measured based on a scale of leisure activity. The Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire was used to measure cognitive performance. We performed logistic regression to assess associations between baseline reading and later cognitive decline. Interaction terms between reading and education were to compare the reading effects on cognitive decline at different education levels.

After adjusting for covariates, those with higher reading frequencies (≥1 time a week) were less likely to have cognitive decline at 6-year (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.34–0.86), 10-year (AOR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.37–0.92), and 14-year (AOR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.34–0.86); in a 14-year follow-up, a reduced risk of cognitive decline was observed among older people with higher reading frequencies versus lower ones at all educational levels.

Reading was protective of cognitive function in later life. Frequent reading activities were associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline for older adults at all levels of education in the long term.

One’s personal social network constitutes a contextual framing factor for late-life cognitive function. This study examined the association between network type at baseline and changes in three cognitive measures: immediate recall, delayed recall, and fluency, two years hence, among Europeans aged 50 and older.

Data were taken from Waves four and five of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe of adults aged 50 and above (N = 50,071).

The latent class analysis was applied to a set of criterion variables. The procedure yielded five distinct network types: multi-tie (6%), family-rich (23%), close-family (49%), family-poor (12%), and friend-enhanced (10%). The network types were then regressed on the cognition measures at follow-up, controlling for the respective baseline cognition scores, as well as for age, gender, education, self-rated health, mobility difficulty, and country.

Respondents in family-poor network types had poorer cognition scores at follow-up, compared to those in the modal close-family network, while those in multi-tie networks had consistently better scores. The family-rich network and the friend-enhanced network also had a somewhat better cognitive function.

Having varied sources of network ties, e.g. friendship ties and/or several types of family relationships, is beneficial to the cognitive health of older adults over time. Networks based mainly on ties with relatives other than spouse and children, on the other hand, have poorer cognitive outcomes. Older people in this latter group face an increased risk for cognitive decline and should receive assistance in enhancing their interpersonal environments.

Given the widely acknowledged benefits of intergenerational programs (IGPs), we compared processes and structures across different IGP types and explored potential areas for improvement.

Thirteen IGPs were classified into three types: arts, learning, and assistance programs. Data were collected through direct structured interviews and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively.

Participants were recruited from community-based IGPs in the greater Tel Aviv area of Israel.

Eighty-four older participants (OPs), 97 younger participants (YPs), and 21 organizers were interviewed.

Questions included participant demographics as well as closed- and open-ended questions regarding processes based on the Impact of Intergenerational Programs Questionnaire (IIPQ).

Responses to closed-ended questions were compared among IGP types and age groups using two-way ANOVAs for ordinal data, and chi-squares for nominal data. Responses to open-ended questions by OP, YP, and program organizers about potential areas for improvement were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Processes in need of improvement were preparation and guidance, length of program participation, and monitoring of activities, which differed across IGP types and age groups. These processes were related to broader structural problems such as lack of resources, organizers’ poor employment conditions, and inadequate public services for older persons in Israel.

Our study highlights the complex relationships between IGP types, processes, and structures. IGP processes and goals can be hindered by structural variables such as insufficient funding, infrastructure, and public services for older adults.

This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based physical exercise program on participants’ mental health: psychological symptoms, depression, and burden of female informal caregivers.

In a randomized controlled trial, a sample of 48 female informal primary caregivers completed the entire study, 25 were randomly allocated to the intervention group (IG), and 23 participants to the control group (CG).

Participants in the IG performed two 60-minute-long physical exercise sessions per week (36 weeks) that were supervised by a personal trainer at caregivers’ home during 9 months. The CG continued their habitual leisure-time activities.

Subjective burden was assessed by the Zarit Burden Interview. The risk of depression was measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form 15-item version, and psychological symptoms were evaluated by the Symptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). All participants were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the intervention.

A promising positive impact of the intervention on caregivers’ subjective burden and risk of depression was found in the IG. In addition, no significant between-group differences were found in any of nine subscales scores of the SCL-90-R. Finally, care recipients’ level of functional independence and area of residence were found to be predictors of the promising positive impact on caregivers’ subjective burden and risk of depression.

The present home-based physical exercise intervention that was individually implemented has shown promising results to reduce subjective burden and risk of depression in female caregivers of relatives with dementia. However, future research efforts should elucidate both the particular dose of physical exercise and the particular duration of the intervention that are required to obtain the expected significant positive impact. Finally, future inclusion of psychological approaches, besides physical exercise, might help reduce female caregivers’ psychological symptoms.

Social isolation and emotional isolation, i.e. loneliness, have been associated with dementia or cognitive decline. In contrast, the relationship of restriction of physical and instrumental activities of daily living to cognitive decline and dementia has been less studied.

We examined multiple quality of life (QoL) indicators, including isolation and restriction of activities, utilizing two validated scales in elders without dementia to determine their associations with cognitive decline and incident dementia that were followed longitudinally over 6 years. We comprehensively controlled for other symptom constellations, including depression and anergia.

A large multi-ethnic prospective study was conducted in northern Manhattan, NYC.

An ethnically diverse sample of 855 non-demented individuals at baseline participated.

The following QoL scales were utilized: Restriction, Anergia, Isolation, Loneliness, and Affective Suffering.

Both Restriction (HR = 2.22, 95% CI [1.42, 3.47], P < .001) and Isolation (HR = 1.78, 95% CI [1.17, 2.70], P = 0.007) were associated with episodic memory and incident dementia, controlling for age, sex, and education. Loneliness and Affective Suffering (depression) were not associated with these outcomes (P’s > .1) with both Restriction and Isolation in the same model for the prediction of dementia, only Restriction remained significant (HR = 1.97, 95% CI [1.24, 3.14], P = 0.004). In cross-lagged panel analyses, Restriction and Isolation had reciprocal influences (P’s < .001), indicating that Restriction at the previous time point influenced current Isolation. Importantly, Restriction (but not Isolation) and Selective Reminding total recall memory demonstrated highly significant direct and reciprocal influences over time (P’s < .001).

Restriction and Isolation were associated with incident dementia. Restriction played a more prominent role in its impact on memory decline. The development of these impairments in QoL, particularly Restriction, may provide warning signs of future cognitive decline and dementia and provide multiple and novel avenues for therapeutic interventions with the goal of delaying the development of cognitive decline and dementia.