Continuing education for the prevention of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s-type dementia: a systematic review protocol

IntroductionThe gradual changes over the decades in the longevity and ageing of European society as a whole can be directly related to the prolonged decline in the birth rate and increase in the life expectancy. According to the WHO, there is an increased risk of dementia or other cognitive disorders as the population ages, which have a major impact on public health. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is described as a greater than expected cognitive decline for an individual’s age and level of education, but that does not significantly interfere with activities of daily living. Patients with MCI exhibit a higher risk of dementia compared with others in the same age group, but without a cognitive decline, have impaired walking and a 50% greater risk of falling.The urban lifestyle and advent of smartphones, mobility and immediate access to all information via the internet, including health information, has led to a totally disruptive change in most general aspects.This systematic review protocol is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of technology-based interventions in the detection, prevention, monitoring and treatment of patients at risk or diagnosed with MCI.Methods and analysisThis review protocol follows the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols reporting guidelines. The search will be performed on MEDLINE (PubMed), CENTRAL, CINAHL Plus, ISI Web of Science and Scopus databases from 2010 to 2020. Studies of interventions either randomised clinical trials or pre–post non-randomised quasi-experimental designs, published in English and Spanish will be included. Articles that provide relevant information on the use of technology and its effectiveness in interventions that assess improvements in early detection, prevention, follow-up and treatment of the patients at risk or diagnosed with MCI will be included.Ethics and disseminationEthics committee approval not required. The results will be disseminated in publications and congresses.

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Continuing education for the prevention of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s-type dementia: a systematic review and overview of systematic reviews

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027719 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. e027719 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Nina Matyas ◽

Filiz Keser Aschenberger ◽

Gernot Wagner ◽

Birgit Teufer ◽

Stefanie Auer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Continuing Education ◽

Systematic Reviews ◽

Cognitive Reserve ◽

Leisure Activities ◽

Positive Association ◽

Overview Of Systematic Reviews

ObjectiveTo summarise evidence on the preventive effects of continuing education on mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s-type dementia in adults 45 years or older.DesignSystematic review and overview of systematic reviews.Data sourcesWe systematically searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Scopus for published studies and grey literature databases for unpublished studies from January 1990 to April 2018.MethodsTo assess evidence directly addressing our objectives, we conducted a systematic review. Because we were aware of a dearth of direct evidence, we also performed an overview of systematic reviews on leisure activities that mimic formal continuing education. We a priori established the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two authors independently assessed inclusion and exclusion at the abstract and full-text level, rated the risk of bias, and determined the certainty of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation. We resolved all discrepancies by consensus. We synthesised the available evidence narratively.ResultsOur searches identified 4933 citations. For the systematic review, only two publications on the same prospective cohort study (Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project) met the inclusion criteria; for the overview of reviews, we included five systematic reviews. Based on 459 participants, preliminary data of the ongoing cohort study indicated that cognitive reserve statistically significantly increased in persons attending university classes compared with the control group (92.5% vs 55.7%, p<0.01). Likewise, language processing capacities statistically significantly improved (p<0.01). Episodic memory, working memory and executive function did not differ significantly between groups. Systematic reviews consistently reported a positive association between participation in cognitively stimulating leisure activities and reduced incidence of dementia and improved cognitive test performance.ConclusionAvailable results demonstrate that cognitive reserve increases through continuing education and show a positive association of cognitive leisure activities with both improved cognitive function and lower dementia incidence.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017063944.

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Supplemental Material for When Does Cognitive Decline Begin? A Systematic Review of Change Point Studies on Accelerated Decline in Cognitive and Neurological Outcomes Preceding Mild Cognitive Impairment, Dementia, and Death

Psychology and Aging ◽

10.1037/pag0000236.supp ◽

2018 ◽

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Change Point ◽

Neurological Outcomes

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Incidence of mild cognitive impairment - a systematic review

Psychiatrische Praxis ◽

10.1055/s-0031-1277902 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 38 (S 01) ◽

Author(s):

T Luck ◽

M Luppa ◽

S Briel ◽

SG Riedel-Heller

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment

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Sleep and cognition in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review protocol.

10.31234/osf.io/cbxud ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sean Carruthers ◽

Gemma Brunetti ◽

Susan Rossell

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Mental Illnesses ◽

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽

Systematic Review Protocol ◽

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽

Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽

Review Protocol ◽

Spectrum Disorders ◽

Sleep And Cognition ◽

The Relationship

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are chronic and debilitating mental illnesses characterised by both cognitive impairments and sleep deficits. In this systematic review protocol, we outline an approach to examine the available literature investigating the relationship between sleep and cognition in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

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