ASSESSMENT OF INSTRUMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING IN OLDER ADULTS WITH SUBJECTIVE COGNITIVE DECLINE USING THE VIRTUAL REALITY FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT TOOL (VRFCAT)

Author(s):  
A.S. Atkins1 ◽  
A. Khan ◽  
D. Ulshen ◽  
A. Vaughan ◽  
D. Balentin ◽  
...  

Background: Continuing advances in the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease progression have inspired development of disease-modifying therapeutics intended for use in preclinical populations. However, identification of clinically meaningful cognitive and functional outcomes for individuals who are, by definition, asymptomatic remains a significant challenge. Clinical trials for prevention and early intervention require measures with increased sensitivity to subtle deficits in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) that comprise the first functional declines in prodromal disease. Validation of potential endpoints is required to ensure measure sensitivity and reliability in the populations of interest. Objectives: The present research validates use of the Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool (VRFCAT) for performance-based assessment of IADL functioning in older adults (age 55+) with subjective cognitive decline. Design: Cross-sectional validation study. Setting: All participants were evaluated on-site at NeuroCog Trials, Durham, NC, USA. Participants: Participants included 245 healthy younger adults ages 20-54 (131 female), 247 healthy older adults ages 55-91 (151 female) and 61 older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) ages 56-97 (45 female). Measures: Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool; Brief Assessment of Cognition App; Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study Prevention Instrument Project – Mail-In Cognitive Function Screening Instrument; Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study Instrumental Activities of Daily Living – Prevention Instrument, University of California, San Diego Performance-Based Skills Assessment – Validation of Intermediate Measures; Montreal Cognitive Assessment; Trail Making Test- Part B. Results: Participants with SCD performed significantly worse than age-matched normative controls on all VRFCAT endpoints, including total completion time, errors and forced progressions (p≤0001 for all, after Bonferonni correction). Consistent with prior findings, both groups performed significantly worse than healthy younger adults (age 20-54). Participants with SCD also performed significantly worse than controls on objective cognitive measures. VRFCAT performance was strongly correlated with cognitive performance. In the SCD group, VRFCAT performance was strongly correlated with cognitive performance across nearly all tests with significant correlation coefficients ranging from 0.3 to 0.7; VRFCAT summary measures all had correlations greater than r=0.5 with MoCA performance and BAC App Verbal Memory (p<0.01 for all). Conclusions: Findings suggest the VRFCAT provides a sensitive tool for evaluation of IADL functioning in individuals with subjective cognitive decline. Strong correlations with cognition across groups suggest the VRFCAT may be uniquely suited for clinical trials in preclinical AD, as well as longitudinal investigations of the relationship between cognition and function.

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Roehr ◽  
Steffi G. Riedel‐Heller ◽  
Hanna Kaduszkiewicz ◽  
Michael Wagner ◽  
Angela Fuchs ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1103-1103
Author(s):  
Alexandra E Jacob ◽  
Michael Crowe ◽  
Pariya L Fazeli ◽  
David E Vance

Abstract Objective Older adults with HIV are at increased risk for difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Awareness of their functional capacity has emerged as an important area for research, but it is not well studied in PWH. The purpose of this study is: (1) to identify factors associated with subjective and objective IADL difficulty in PWH and (2) to identify factors associated with under- or over-reporting of IADL difficulties. Methods This cross-sectional study included 261 adults with HIV. Participants completed a neuropsychological battery, self-report and performance-based measures of IADLs. Self-report measures included the Patient’s Assessment of Own Functioning Inventory (PAOFI) and the Lawton and Brody IADL Questionnaire. The Timed Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (TIADL) task was used as an objective measure. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed to identify factors associated with subjective and objective assessment of everyday functioning as well as factors associated with discrepancy between self-report and actual performance of IADLS. Results On the PAOFI, higher depression (p = 0.001), lower conscientiousness (p &gt; 0.001), and better processing speed (p = 0.017) predicted worse functioning. On the Lawton and Brody, higher depression (p = 0.049) predicted of worse functioning. On the TIADL, older age (p = 0.1), lower WRAT-4 score (p &gt; 0.001), worse processing speed (p &gt; 0.001), and worse motor function (p = 0.1) were associated with worse performance. Processing speed predicted discrepancy between subjective and objective performance of IADLs (p = 0.1). Conclusions Several demographic, cognitive, and personality variables are associated with worse subjective and objective everyday functioning, as well as an individual’s ability to accurately self-appraise their functional capacity.


Author(s):  
Ana-Isabel Corregidor-Sánchez ◽  
Antonio Segura-Fragoso ◽  
Juan-José Criado-Álvarez ◽  
Marta Rodríguez-Hernández ◽  
Alicia Mohedano-Moriano ◽  
...  

(1) This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments with virtual reality systems (VRSs) on the functional autonomy of older adults versus conventional treatment. (3) Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis. An electronic data search was carried out, following the PRISMA statement, up to February 2020. We combined results from clinical trials using VRSs for the improvement of basic and instrumental activities of daily living. The guidelines of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions were followed for calculations and risk of bias. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to assess the quality of evidence. (4) Results: The final analysis included 23 studies with a population of 1595 participants. A moderate, but clinically significant, effect was found for basic activities of daily living (BADLs), (Standard Medium Deviation, SMD 0.61; 95% CI: −0.15–1.37; P < 0.001). A small effect was found for instrumental ADLs (Instrumental Activities of daily living, IADLs) (SMD −0.34; 95% CI: −0.82–0.15; P < 0.001). Functional ambulation was the BADL which improved the most (SMD −0.63; 95% CI: −0.86, −0.40; P < 0.001). (5) Conclusion: The use of VRSs is an innovative and feasible technique to support and improve the functional autonomy of community-dwelling older adults. Due to the very low quality of the evidence for our main outcomes, the effects of a VRS on the BADLs and IADLs are uncertain. Clinical trials of a higher methodological quality are necessary to increase the level of knowledge of its actual effectiveness.


Author(s):  
A.S. Atkins ◽  
I. Stroescu ◽  
N.B. Spagnola ◽  
V.G. Davis ◽  
T.D. Patterson ◽  
...  

Clinical trials for primary prevention and early intervention in preclinical AD require measures of functional capacity with improved sensitivity to deficits in healthier, non-demented individuals. To this end, the Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool (VRFCAT) was developed as a direct performance-based assessment of functional capacity that is sensitive to changes in function across multiple populations. Using a realistic virtual reality environment, the VRFCAT assesses a subject’s ability to complete instrumental activities associated with a shopping trip. The present investigation represents an initial evaluation of the VRFCAT as a potential co-primary measure of functional capacity in healthy aging and preclinical MCI/AD by examining test-retest reliability and associations with cognitive performance in healthy young and older adults. The VRFCAT was compared and contrasted with the UPSA-2-VIM, a traditional performance-based assessment utilizing physical props. Results demonstrated strong age-related differences in performance on each VRFCAT outcome measure, including total completion time, total errors, and total forced progressions. VRFCAT performance showed strong correlations with cognitive performance across both age groups. VRFCAT Total Time demonstrated good test-retest reliability (ICC=.80 in young adults; ICC=.64 in older adults) and insignificant practice effects, indicating the measure is suitable for repeated testing in healthy populations. Taken together, these results provide preliminary support for the VRFCAT as a potential measure of functionally relevant change in primary prevention and preclinical AD/MCI trials.


2008 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine C. Price ◽  
Cynthia W. Garvan ◽  
Terri G. Monk

Background The authors investigated type and severity of cognitive decline in older adults immediately and 3 months after noncardiac surgery. Changes in instrumental activities of daily living were examined relative to type of cognitive decline. Methods Of the initial 417 older adults enrolled in the study, 337 surgery patients and 60 controls completed baseline, discharge, and/or 3-month postoperative cognitive and instrumental activities of daily living measures. Reliable change methods were used to examine three types of cognitive decline: memory, executive function, and combined executive function/memory. SD cutoffs were used to grade severity of change as mild, moderate or severe. Results At discharge, 186 (56%) patients experienced cognitive decline, with an equal distribution in type and severity. At 3 months after surgery, 231 patients (75.1%) experienced no cognitive decline, 42 (13.6%) showed only memory decline, 26 (8.4%) showed only executive function decline, and 9 (2.9%) showed decline in both executive and memory domains. Of those with cognitive decline, 36 (46.8%) had mild, 25 (32.5%) had moderate, and 16 (20.8%) had severe decline. The combined group had more severe impairment. Executive function or combined (memory and executive) deficits involved greater levels of functional (i.e., instrumental activities of daily living) impairment. The combined group was less educated than the unimpaired and memory groups. Conclusion Postsurgical cognitive presentation varies with time of testing. At 3 months after surgery, more older adults experienced memory decline, but only those with executive or combined cognitive decline had functional limitations. The findings have relevance for patients and caregivers. Future research should examine how perioperative factors influence neuronal systems.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Travis H. Turner ◽  
Alexandra Atkins ◽  
Richard S.E. Keefe

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and highly associated with loss of independence, caregiver burden, and assisted living placement. The need for cognitive functional capacity tools validated for use in PD clinical and research applications has thus been emphasized in the literature. The Virtual Reality Functional Capacity Assessment Tool (VRFCAT-SL) is a tablet-based instrument that assesses proficiency for performing real world tasks in a highly realistic environment. Objective: The present study explored application of the VRFCAT-SL in clinical assessments of patients with PD. Specifically, we examined associations between VRFCAT-SL performance and measures of cognition, motor severity, and self-reported cognitive functioning. Methods: The VRFCAT-SL was completed by a sample of 29 PD patients seen in clinic for a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. Fifteen patients met Movement Disorders Society Task Force criteria for mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI); no patients were diagnosed with dementia. Non-parametric correlations between VRFCAT-SL performance and standardized neuropsychological tests and clinical measures were examined. Results: VRFCAT-SL performance was moderately associated with global rank on neuropsychological testing and discriminated PD-MCI. Follow-up analyses found completion time was associated with visual memory, sustained attention, and set-switching, while errors were associated with psychomotor inhibition. No clinical or motor measures were associated with VRFCAT-SL performance. Self-report was not associated with VRFCAT-SL or neuropsychological test performance. Conclusion: The VRFCAT-SL appears to provide a useful measure of cognitive functional capacity that is not confounded by PD motor symptoms. Future studies will examine utility in PD dementia.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089826432110375
Author(s):  
Jiwon Kim ◽  
Jacqueline L. Angel ◽  
Sunshine M. Rote

Objectives Mexican Americans live longer on average than other ethnic groups, but often with protracted cognitive and physical disability. Little is known, however, about the role of cognitive decline for transitions in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) disability and tertiary outcomes of the IADL disablement for the oldest old (after 80 years old). Methods We employ the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (2010–2011, 2012–2013, and 2016, N = 1,078) to investigate the longitudinal patterns of IADL decline using latent transition analysis. Results Three IADL groups were identified: independent (developing mobility limitations), emerging dependence (limited mobility and community activities), and dependent (limited mobility and household and community activities). Declines in cognitive function were a consistent predictor of greater IADL disablement, and loneliness was a particularly salient distal outcome for emerging dependence. Discussion These results highlight the social consequences of cognitive decline and dependency as well as underscore important areas of intervention at each stage of the disablement process.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 584-593
Author(s):  
Leticia Silveira Cardoso ◽  
Bárbara Tarouco da Silva ◽  
Daiane dos Santos Rodrigues ◽  
Cristiana Lopes Leal ◽  
Marcelo Clarete Seracini Penner

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a capacidade funcional das pessoas idosas residentes em duas instituições de longa permanência de um município da região da campanha/RS. MÉTODO: Com abordagem exploratório-descritiva, aplicou-se a Escala de Katz e a de Lawton a 44 pessoas idosas para a coleta de dados, que foram analisados qualitativamente. RESULTADOS: As atividades básicas da vida diária, Escala de Katz, apresentaram maior grau de independência em relação às instrumentais, Escala de Lawton. As dependências das pessoas idosas que foram ressaltadas circunscrevem-se no atendimento as necessidades psciobilógicas de higiene corporal e eliminações para a realização das atividades básicas da vida diária. E nas necessidades psicossociais de comunicação e gregária para a realização das atividades instrumentais da vida diária. CONCLUSÃO: A capacidade funcional das pessoas idosas em investigação determina o planejamento e a organização do trabalho da Enfermagem. Determinando a qualidade dos serviços por indicar o quantitativo necessário para atender as exigências e a capacitação continua.     


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