Communicating Personal Risk Profiles of Alzheimer’s Disease to Older Adults: A Pilot Trial

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
I. Choi ◽  
H. La Monica ◽  
S.L. Naismith ◽  
A. Rahmanovic ◽  
L. Mowszowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Pilot Trial ◽  
Risk Profile ◽  
Risk Level ◽  
Risk Profiles ◽  
Personal Risk

Communicating personal Alzheimer’s disease risk profiles based on validated risk algorithms may improve public knowledge about risk reduction, and initiate action. This proof of concept pilot trial aimed to test whether this is feasible and potentially effective and/or harmful. Older at-risk adults (N=24) were provided with their personal Alzheimer’s disease risk profile online, which contained information on their personal risk level, scores and tailored recommendations to manage modifiable risk factors. After receiving the risk profile, participants were significantly more accurate in identifying risk and protective factors, and revised their perceived risk to be lower than their initial estimate. There was no apparent harm seen in psychological distress or dementia-related worry. This shows preliminary support for the feasibility of delivering personal dementia risk profiles to low risk, help-seeking older adults in an online format. A definitive trial examining behavioural outcomes and testing in groups with higher risk profiles is now warranted.

scholarly journals Nutritional problems in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease: Risk of malnutrition and sarcopenia

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-285
Author(s):  
Danielle Rodrigues LECHETA ◽  
Maria Eliana Madalozzo SCHIEFERDECKER ◽  
Ana Paula de MELLO ◽  
Ivete BERKENBROCK ◽  
João CARDOSO NETO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Nutritional Assessment ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Mini Nutritional Assessment ◽  
Capital City

ABSTRACT Objective Understand the nutritional problems and detect the presence of sarcopenia in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease receiving care at the Unidade de Saúde de Atenção ao Idoso (Elderly Care Unit) in a capital city in Southern Brazil between November 2010 and July 2011. The Clinical Dementia Rating scale was used for the evaluation of staging severity of dementia. Participants’ nutritional status was classified using The Mini Nutritional Assessment. The following tests were used to diagnose sarcopenia: bioelectrical impedance, hand grip strength, and the Timed Up and Go test. Anthropometric measurements and laboratory tests (hemoglobin, lymphocytes, serum albumin, and total cholesterol) were performed. Results Ninety-six older adults (mean age of 78 years) were evaluated. It was observed prevalence of mild Alzheimer’s disease in 54.2% of the participants; 55.2% were at risk of malnutrition; unintentional weight loss was observed in 64.6%, 55.3% had lower number of lymphocytes, and 43.7% had severe sarcopenia. Conclusion The prevalence of risk of malnutrition and sarcopenia is high among older adults with Alzheimer’s disease. Future studies should focus on the evaluation of nutritional interventions aimed at maintaining the nutritional status and muscle mass in these individuals.

scholarly journals LIFESTYLE BEHAVIORS AND RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE RISK

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S468-S469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Wong
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards Model ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviors ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Blacks And Whites

Abstract There is substantial evidence indicating that among all racial groups, Blacks have the highest Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. Despite the wide support for this disparity, the reasons for these racial differences in AD risk remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine how lifestyle behaviors (physical activity, smoking, and social contacts) mediate and moderate the relationship between race and AD risk among Black and White older adults. This study used seven annual waves (2011-2017) of prospective data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), a large nationally representative U.S. sample of older adults. At each wave, physical activity was measured as whether they engaged in vigorous physical activities; smoking was measured as whether they were cigarette smokers; and social contacts was measured as whether they visited friends/family outside of their home. The dependent variable was age of AD diagnosis. Multivariate analyses were conducted using the Cox proportional hazards model. Blacks had a 1.3 times significantly higher risk for AD compared to Whites (Hazard Ratio [HR]=1.31, p=.03). After controlling for lifestyle behaviors as a mediator, racial differences in AD risk were attenuated and no longer significantly different between Blacks and Whites (HR=1.05, p=.74). For the moderation model, interactions between race and each lifestyle behavior generated no statistically significant results. Our findings indicate lifestyle behaviors contribute to racial differences in AD risk between Blacks and Whites. Future research is needed among Black populations to identify specific lifestyle behaviors that are especially protective against AD as targets of intervention.

Cognitive control constrains memory attributions

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen M. Kelley ◽  
Larry L. Jacoby
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Cognitive Control

Abstract Cognitive control constrains retrieval processing and so restricts what comes to mind as input to the attribution system. We review evidence that older adults, patients with Alzheimer's disease, and people with traumatic brain injury exert less cognitive control during retrieval, and so are susceptible to memory misattributions in the form of dramatic levels of false remembering.

Partner-Specific Communication Deficits in Individuals With Alzheimer's Disease

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Eun Jin Paek ◽  
Si On Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
Audience Design ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Communication Task ◽  
Design Skills ◽  
Referential Expressions

Purpose Speakers adjust referential expressions to the listeners' knowledge while communicating, a phenomenon called “audience design.” While individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) show difficulties in discourse production, it is unclear whether they exhibit preserved partner-specific audience design. The current study examined if individuals with AD demonstrate partner-specific audience design skills. Method Ten adults with mild-to-moderate AD and 12 healthy older adults performed a referential communication task with two experimenters (E1 and E2). At first, E1 and participants completed an image-sorting task, allowing them to establish shared labels. Then, during testing, both experimenters were present in the room, and participants described images to either E1 or E2 (randomly alternating). Analyses focused on the number of words participants used to describe each image and whether they reused shared labels. Results During testing, participants in both groups produced shorter descriptions when describing familiar images versus new images, demonstrating their ability to learn novel knowledge. When they described familiar images, healthy older adults modified their expressions depending on the current partner's knowledge, producing shorter expressions and more established labels for the knowledgeable partner (E1) versus the naïve partner (E2), but individuals with AD were less likely to do so. Conclusions The current study revealed that both individuals with AD and the control participants were able to acquire novel knowledge, but individuals with AD tended not to flexibly adjust expressions depending on the partner's knowledge state. Conversational inefficiency and difficulties observed in AD may, in part, stem from disrupted audience design skills.

Auditory Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sridhar Krishnamurti
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
Clinical Protocols ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Auditory Dysfunction

Alzheimer's disease is neurodegenerative disorder which affects a growing number of older adults every year. With an understanding of auditory dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease, the speech-language pathologist working in the health care setting can provide better service to these individuals. The pathophysiology of the disease process in Alzheimer's disease increases the likelihood of specific types of auditory deficits as opposed to others. This article will discuss the auditory deficits in Alzheimer's disease, their implications, and the value of clinical protocols for individuals with this disease.

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