Animal-assisted activity and emotional status of patients with Alzheimer's disease in day care

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 899-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Mossello ◽  
Alessandro Ridolfi ◽  
Anna Maria Mello ◽  
Giulia Lorenzini ◽  
Francesca Mugnai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Motor Activity ◽  
Day Care ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Emotional Status ◽  
Item Score ◽  
Control Activity

ABSTRACTBackground: Preliminary studies suggest beneficial effects of animal-assisted activities (AAA) on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), but data are inconsistent. This study aimed to assess the effect of AAA with dogs on cognition, BPSD, emotional status and motor activity in severe Alzheimer's disease (AD).Methods: Ten patients attending an Alzheimer Day Care Center (ADCC) participated in a repeated measures study, which included: two weeks' pre-intervention, three weeks' control activity with plush dogs (CA), and three weeks' AAA. Cognitive function (Severe Impairment Battery), mood (Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia; CSDD), BPSD (Neuropsychiatric Inventory; NPI) and agitation (Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory; CMAI) were assessed at baseline and after each period. Observed Emotion Rating Scale (OERS) for emotional status, Agitated Behavior Mapping Instrument (ABMI) and a checklist for motor activity were completed across the study periods, both during intervention sessions and after three hours.Results: Cognition and NPI were unchanged across the study. Declines in the CMAI and CSDD scores after AAA were not significant, while the NPI anxiety item score decreased in comparison with CA (CA 3.1±2.3, AAA 1.5±2.7, p = 0.04). OERS “sadness” decreased (p = 0.002), while “pleasure” (p = 0.016) and “general alertness” (p = 0.003) increased during AAA compared with CA sessions, and observed sadness remained lower after three hours (p = 0.002). Motor activity increased significantly during AAA.Conclusion: In this sample of severe AD patients in ADCC, AAA was associated with a decrease in anxiety and sadness and an increase in positive emotions and motor activity in comparison with a control activity.

scholarly journals Factors associated with caregiver burden: comparative study between Brazilian and Spanish caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD)

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1363-1374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Fernanda B. Sousa ◽  
Raquel L. Santos ◽  
Oriol Turró-Garriga ◽  
Rachel Dias ◽  
Marcia C. N. Dourado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Day Care ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Clinical Dementia Rating ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Day Care Center ◽  
High Burden ◽  
Factors Associated

ABSTRACTBackground:Transcultural studies regarding the comparison of levels of burden in caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from Europe and Latin America are rare. We designed this study to investigate the differentiating factors associated with burden in Brazilian and Spanish caregivers of patients with AD.Methods:This is a cross-sectional study composed by samples of outpatients with AD and their caregivers from Brazil (n = 128) and Spain (n = 146). Caregivers answered the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and a Sociodemographic Questionnaire. Patients were assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ), Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Scale.Results:In the multivariate regression analysis, high burden levels were reported in Brazil, when caregivers were female (p = 0.025) and when patients did not attend Day Care Center (p = 0.025). In Spain, high burden levels were associated with living with the patient (p = 0.014), younger caregivers (p = 0.003), and participation of patients at Day Care Center (p = 0.046). Also, different neuropsychiatric symptoms explained high burden levels: in Brazil, depression (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p = 0.024) and, in Spain, apathy/indifference (p < 0.001), agitation/aggression (p = 0.019) and irritability/lability (p = 0.027).Conclusions:Caregivers’ gender, patients who attended Day Care Center and neuropsychiatric symptoms were differentiating factors in the burden of Brazilian and Spanish caregivers.

scholarly journals Anhedonia in Semantic Dementia—Exploring Right Hemispheric Contributions to the Loss of Pleasure

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 998
Author(s):  
Siobhán R. Shaw ◽  
Hashim El-Omar ◽  
Siddharth Ramanan ◽  
Olivier Piguet ◽  
Rebekah M. Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Dementia ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Functional Impairments ◽  
Lobe Atrophy

Semantic dementia (SD) is a younger-onset neurodegenerative disease characterised by progressive deterioration of the semantic knowledge base in the context of predominantly left-lateralised anterior temporal lobe (ATL) atrophy. Mounting evidence indicates the emergence of florid socioemotional changes in SD as atrophy encroaches into right temporal regions. How lateralisation of temporal lobe pathology impacts the hedonic experience in SD remains largely unknown yet has important implications for understanding socioemotional and functional impairments in this syndrome. Here, we explored how lateralisation of temporal lobe atrophy impacts anhedonia severity on the Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale in 28 SD patients presenting with variable right- (SD-R) and left-predominant (SD-L) profiles of temporal lobe atrophy compared to that of 30 participants with Alzheimer’s disease and 30 healthy older Control participants. Relative to Controls, SD-R but not SD-L or Alzheimer’s patients showed clinically significant anhedonia, representing a clear departure from premorbid levels. Overall, anhedonia was more strongly associated with functional impairment on the Frontotemporal Dementia Functional Rating Scale and motivational changes on the Cambridge Behavioural Inventory in SD than in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Voxel-based morphometry analyses revealed that anhedonia severity correlated with reduced grey matter intensity in a restricted set of regions centred on right orbitofrontal and temporopolar cortices, bilateral posterior temporal cortices, as well as the anterior cingulate gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus, bilaterally. Finally, regression and mediation analysis indicated a unique role for right temporal lobe structures in modulating anhedonia in SD. Our findings suggest that degeneration of predominantly right-hemisphere structures deleteriously impacts the capacity to experience pleasure in SD. These findings offer important insights into hemispheric lateralisation of motivational disturbances in dementia and suggest that anhedonia may emerge at different timescales in the SD disease trajectory depending on the integrity of the right hemisphere.

scholarly journals Genetic Predisposition to Alzheimer’s Disease Is Associated with Enlargement of Perivascular Spaces in Centrum Semiovale Region

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 825
Author(s):  
Iacopo Ciampa ◽  
Grégory Operto ◽  
Carles Falcon ◽  
Carolina Minguillon ◽  
Manuel Castro de Moura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Genetic Predisposition ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
P Value ◽  
Perivascular Spaces ◽  
Centrum Semiovale ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Visual Rating ◽  
Increased Risk

This study investigated whether genetic factors involved in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are associated with enlargement of Perivascular Spaces (ePVS) in the brain. A total of 680 participants with T2-weighted MRI scans and genetic information were acquired from the ALFA study. ePVS in the basal ganglia (BG) and the centrum semiovale (CS) were assessed based on a validated visual rating scale. We used univariate and multivariate logistic regression models to investigate associations between ePVS in BG and CS with BIN1-rs744373, as well as APOE genotypes. We found a significant association of the BIN1-rs744373 polymorphism in the CS subscale (p value = 0.019; OR = 2.564), suggesting that G allele carriers have an increased risk of ePVS in comparison with A allele carriers. In stratified analysis by APOE-ε4 status (carriers vs. non-carriers), these results remained significant only for ε4 carriers (p value = 0.011; OR = 1.429). To our knowledge, the present study is the first suggesting that genetic predisposition for AD is associated with ePVS in CS. These findings provide evidence that underlying biological processes affecting AD may influence CS-ePVS.

scholarly journals Caretaker Obstreperous Behavior Rating Scale

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (S3) ◽  
pp. 321-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan M. Swearer ◽  
David A. Drachman
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Senile Dementia ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Original Description ◽  
Behavior Rating Scale ◽  
Large Patient ◽  
Number Of Patients

Although Alzheimer's original description of the dementing disorder that bears his name emphasized the prominence of troublesome and disruptive behaviors, a systematic investigation of behavioral disturbances of dementia did not begin in earnest until the 1980s. At that time, as the neuropathologic identity of presenile Alzheimer's disease and late-onset “senile dementia” was recognized, the redefinition of Alzheimer's disease abruptly increased the number of patients diagnosed with this condition. Physicians and other medical personnel working with Alzheimer's disease patients recognized both the importance of abnormal behaviors in this now large patient population and the need to describe, classify, and quantify these behaviors.

scholarly journals Progress Report on the Canadian Multicentre Trial of Tetrahydroaminoacridine with Lecithin in Alzheimer's Disease

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (S4) ◽  
pp. 543-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gauthier ◽  
R. Bouchard ◽  
Y. Bacher ◽  
P. Bailey ◽  
H. Bergman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Fixed Dose ◽  
Symptomatic Therapy ◽  
Muscarinic Agonists ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Disability Rating Scale ◽  
Functional Autonomy ◽  
Disability Rating

ABSTRACT:Since the discovery of a significant depletion of acetylcholine in discrete areas of the brain of patients affected by Alzheimer's disease, attempts at symptomatic therapy have concentrated on acetylcholine supplementation, an approach that is based upon the efficacy of dopaminergic supplementation therapy for Parkinson's disease. Choline, then lecithin, used orally, failed to improve symptoms but the hypothesis that long-term choline supplementation might stabilize the course of Alzheimer's disease remains to be tested. Nerve growth factor may also offer that possibility. Bethanechol administered intracerebroventricularly did not help when a fixed dose was used but individual titration of more selective muscarinic agonists may prove more effective. In this article we report that tetrahydroaminoacridine (THA), given together with highly concentrated lecithin, appears to bring improvement in cognition and in functional autonomy using the Mini Mental State and the Rapid Disability Rating Scale-2 respectively, without change in behavior as reflected by the Behave-AD. Double-blind cross-over studies are in progress to establish its efficacy. Improvement in study design and means of assessment of cognition, functional autonomy and behavior have been made possible by these drug trials.

scholarly journals Good rate of clinical response to cholinesterase inhibitors in mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease after three months of treatment: An open-label study

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Felipe José Ravic de Miranda ◽  
Marilourdes do Amaral Barbosa ◽  
Patrícia Regina Henrique Peles ◽  
Patrícia Hilar Pôças ◽  
Pedro Augusto Lopes Tito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cerebrovascular Disease ◽  
Clinical Response ◽  
Cholinesterase Inhibitors ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Open Label ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Moderate Dementia

ABSTRACT Life expectancy in Brazil has increased markedly over the last 30 years. Hence, age-related disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), warrant special attention due to their high prevalence in the elderly. Pharmacologic treatment of AD is based on cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEI) and memantine, leading to modest clinical benefits both in the short and long-term. However, clinical response is heterogeneous and needs further investigation. Objective: To investigate the rate of response to ChEI in AD after three months of treatment. Methods: Patients with mild or moderate dementia due to probable AD or to AD associated with cerebrovascular disease were included in the study. The subjects were assessed at baseline and again after three months of ChEI treatment. Subjects were submitted to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, Katz Basic Activities of Daily Living, Pfeffer Functional Activities Questionnaire, Neuropsychiatric Inventory and Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. Good response was defined by a gain of ≥2 points on the MMSE after three months of treatment in relation to baseline. Results: Seventy-one patients, 66 (93%) with probable AD and five (7%) with AD associated with cerebrovascular disease, were evaluated. The good response rate at three months was 31.0%, being 37.2% and 21.4% in mild and moderate dementia, respectively. There were no significant differences on most tests, except for improvement in hallucinations, agitation and dysphoria in moderate dementia patients. Conclusion: The rate of good clinical response to ChEI was higher than usually reported. Specific behavioral features significantly improved in the subgroup of moderate dementia.

scholarly journals Conversational System as Assistant Tool in Reminiscence Therapy for People with Early-Stage of Alzheimer’s

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1036
Author(s):  
Victor Morales-de-Jesús ◽  
Helena Gómez-Adorno ◽  
María Somodevilla-García ◽  
Darnes Vilariño
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Life History ◽  
Patient Information ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Pharmacological Intervention ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Reminiscence Therapy ◽  
Past Experiences

Reminiscence therapy is a non-pharmacological intervention that helps mitigate unstable psychological and emotional states in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, where past experiences are evoked through conversations between the patients and their caregivers, stimulating autobiographical episodic memory. It is highly recommended that people with Alzheimer regularly receive this type of therapy. In this paper, we describe the development of a conversational system that can be used as a tool to provide reminiscence therapy to people with Alzheimer’s disease. The system has the ability to personalize the therapy according to the patients information related to their preferences, life history and lifestyle. An evaluation conducted with eleven people related to patient care (caregiver = 9, geriatric doctor = 1, care center assistant = 1) shows that the system is capable of carrying out a reminiscence therapy according to the patient information in a successful manner.

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