scholarly journals Factors associated with cognitive performance in elderly caregivers

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (10) ◽  
pp. 685-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Cristina Iost Pavarini ◽  
Allan Gustavo Brigola ◽  
Ana Carolina Ottaviani ◽  
Bruna Moretti Luchesi ◽  
Érica Nestor Souza ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives: To explore the socioeconomic, demographic and psychosocial factors associated with cognitive performance in elderly caregivers from Brazil. Methods: We evaluated 351 Brazilian elderly caregivers attending primary healthcare services regarding sociodemographic and care variables. Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) domains of orientation/attention, memory, verbal fluency, language and visuospatial were used as dependent variables in the Tobit model. Results: Literacy and family income were positively associated with all ACE-R domains. Age, gender, time of care (days/week) were negatively associated with some cognitive domains. Moreover, receiving emotional help and the level of hope were positively associated with specific domains. Discussion: The results may be useful for planning interventions aimed at elderly caregivers in order to prevent deficits in the different cognitive domains.

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marielli Terassi ◽  
Estefani Serafim Rossetti ◽  
Bruna Moretti Luchesi ◽  
Karina Gramani-Say ◽  
Priscilla Hortense ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective: to identify factors associated with depressive symptoms in elderly caregivers with chronic pain. Method: the study included people 60 years of age or older who reported chronic pain and cared for another elderly person living in the same household (n=186). Statistical analyzes were performed using the Mann-Whitney test, univariate and multiple logistic regression. Results: most participants had no depressive symptoms (70.4%), 24.2% had mild depressive symptoms and 5.4% had severe symptoms. Univariate analysis showed that the variables family income, number of diseases, number of medications in use, pain intensity, overload and perceived stress were associated with depressive symptoms. Multivariate analysis found an association with perceived stress (95% CI 1.101-1207) and number of medications (95% CI 1.139-1.540) in use. Conclusion: factors associated with depressive symptoms in elderly caregivers with chronic pain were stress and the number of medications in use.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovana Sposito ◽  
Anita Liberalesso Neri ◽  
Mônica Sanches Yassuda

Cognitive decline in aging can negatively impact quality of life in the elderly. However, studies have shown that elderly engaged in advanced activities of daily living (AADLs) can maintain or enhance global cognitive function or specific domains. Objective: To investigate the relationship between engagement in AADLs and domains of cognition in elderly from seven different locations in Brazil. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 2,549 elderly without cognitive deficits suggestive of dementia was conducted. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, health status, the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) by subdomain (orientation, memory, attention/calculus, language and constructional praxis), and engagement in AADL grouped under physical, social and intellectual activities. Results: Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed an association, albeit modest, between intellectual AADLs and the domains orientation, attention/calculus, language and constructional praxis (R2=0.005, 0.008, 0.021, and 0.021 respectively). Social AADLs were correlated with memory (R2=0.002) and language (R2=0.004) domains. No association was found between physical AADLs and MMSE domains. Schooling and family income were the sociodemographic variables exhibiting the strongest relationship with cognitive domains. Conclusion: The study found associations between intellectual and social AADLs with higher cognitive performance, suggesting that active aging can provide opportunities to attenuate cognitive decline in aging.


Author(s):  
Mariana Di Lorenzo ◽  
Silvia Mascolo ◽  
Antonio Romanelli

Objective: This study analyses the patients' factors can influence the attitude to follow or not the therapeutic weight-loss plan after national lockdown measures adopted from March 2020 to May 2020. Materials and Methods: Patients that visited a private nutritional center in March 2020 were included in this retrospective observational study. All relevant characteristics were noted. In May 2020, patients who did not attend the follow-up visit were labeled as "abandoned". Variation in Body Mass Index (BMI) was noted in the second visit. Univariate logistic regression was performed to test the influence on dependent variables (lost follow-up). Odds Ratio (OR) was calculated. According to BMI distribution, we performed a Student T-test (α= 0.05) or Wilcoxon test (α= 0.05) to test BMI variation in patients that attended the follow-up visit. A P-value< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Our population consisted of 77 patients, and 26 patients (33.8%, CI95% 23.4-45.4%) were labelled as "abandoned". Age≥ 54 years old (OR= 8.9048, CI95%:1.888-41.9822, P-value= 0.0057) and suffering from hypertension (OR= 4.8706, CI95%:1.4284-16.6076, Pvalue= 0.0114) were factors associated with the abandon follow-up visits. Wilcoxon test for BMI variation resulted statistically significant (May BMI 29.5 kg/m2 vs March BMI 29.4 kg/m2 , Pvalue= 0.0094). Conclusion: Age and hypertension are related to the risk of abandoning healthcare services after ending the national lockdown. The losing follow-up phenomenon could worsen clinical conditions and reduce life expectancy. An increase in BMI during lockdown should be interpreted as a personal difficulty in complying with therapeutic prescriptions.


2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Koutsis ◽  
M Panas ◽  
E Giogkaraki ◽  
G Karadima ◽  
C Sfagos ◽  
...  

Background Elevated ApoA1 levels have been associated with decreased dementia risk. The A-allele of the APOA1 –75G/A promoter polymorphism has been associated with elevated ApoA1 levels. Objective We sought to investigate the effect of the APOA1 –75G/A promoter polymorphism on cognitive performance in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods A total of 138 patients with MS and 43 controls were studied and underwent neuropsychological assessment with Rao’s Brief Repeatable Battery and the Stroop test. All patients were genotyped for APOA1. Results APOA1 A-allele carriers displayed superior overall cognitive performance compared with non-carriers ( P 0.008) and had a three-fold decrease in the relative risk of overall cognitive impairment (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.11–0.74). Regarding performance on individual cognitive domains, although APOA1 A-allele carriers performed better than non-carriers on all tests, this was significant only for semantic verbal fluency and the Stroop interference task ( P 0.036 and 0.018, respectively). Conclusions We found an association of the APOA1 –75G/A promoter polymorphism with cognitive performance in MS. This effect was most prominent on semantic verbal fluency and the Stroop interference task.


2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (suppl 2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marielli Terassi ◽  
Pedro Montoya ◽  
Sofia Cristina Iost Pavarini ◽  
Priscilla Hortense

ABSTRACT Objective: to compare cognitive performance of elderly caregivers with and without chronic pain over four years and verify the effect of pain intensity on cognitive performance of elderly caregivers with chronic pain. Method: a longitudinal study with data collected in 2014 and 2018. Community-dwelling elderly caregivers of a Brazilian city participated in the study. Cognition was assessed using the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination instrument. Pain was assessed by an 11-point scale. For data analysis, a mixed linear model and ANCOVA with a 5% significance level were used. Results: they were divided into two groups. A cognitive decline over four years was found in elderly people with pain (p=0.02; 95%CI=0.32-4.25), while those without pain did not show a significant change. Conclusion: the results show that elderly caregivers with pain had a worse cognitive performance, but when comparing groups with the ANCOVA test for intergroup analysis, there was no difference in cognitive performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (S7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina Ottaviani ◽  
Allan Gustavo Brigola ◽  
Nathalia Alves Oliveira ◽  
Bruna Moretti Luchesi ◽  
Sofia Cristina Iost Pavarini

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (S1) ◽  
pp. 215-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven H. Ferris

A general cognitive performance battery is needed as a primary outcome in vascular dementia clinical trials. Because there is considerable overlap between vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the pattern of cognitive impairment, a reasonable approach to developing an optimal vascular dementia battery is to begin with a widely used AD measure and improve its sensitivity to the cognitive domains that are more prominent in vascular dementia. Thus the VaDAS-cog has evolved, which comprises the ADAS-cog with additional frontal lobe subtests covering attention, working memory, executive function, and verbal fluency. Validation of this new cognitive instrument will be supported by its successful use in vascular dementia clinical trials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo J. Sánchez ◽  
Daniel E. Perrotti ◽  
Alejandra Gomez Paz Fort

AbstractSince 2006, when the Emma Maersk broke into the world of shipping, the growth in containership size has remained a continuous trend.For the last 14 years, since 2006, the enlargement of fullcontainerships size has remained a continuous trend since Emma Maersk broke into the world of shipping. This process - that also affected north-south trades - has crucial implications in the shipping business, particularly in the planning of ports and its services and related activities. This paper analyses the global increase in vessel size and forecasts larger vessels’ arrival to South American coasts. The paper analyses evidence since 2006 to understand the factors behind the trend for bigger ships (fleets between 18,000 and 24,000 TEU) and introduce a validated methodology for the prediction of the size of container ships. Experts presented a consensus vision in which factors associated with infrastructure, economics, technology, and the environment play a crucial role in driving the trend. Next, the paper presents a methodology for forecasting the size of containerships and applies it to Latin America’s trade. The models include two alternative thresholds for the dependent variables (1310 ft LOA and 18,000 TEU of nominal capacity) that are controlled by cascading effect (i.e., the size gap between Latin America and the world’s main trade routes), and the economic activity at the destination countries (represented by port activity). Finally, the conclusions highlight the forecast’s call to take action on infrastructure planning and investments, analyzing issues such as “economies of scale,” concentration, or entry barriers. Overall, the paper warns about the importance of efficient medium-term planning in the port industry to maximize its economic impact.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tam Watermeyer ◽  
Jantje Goerdten ◽  
Boo Johansson ◽  
Graciela Muniz-Terrera

Abstract Background Cognitive dispersion, or inconsistencies in performance across cognitive domains, has been posited as a cost-effective tool to predict conversion to dementia in older adults. However, there is a dearth of studies exploring cognitive dispersion in the oldest-old (&gt;80 years) and its relationship to dementia incidence. Objective The main aim of this study was to examine whether higher cognitive dispersion at baseline was associated with dementia incidence within an 8-year follow-up of very old adults, while controlling for established risk factors and suggested protective factors for dementia. Methods Participants (n = 468) were from the Origins of Variance in the Old-Old: Octogenarian Twins study, based on the Swedish Twin Registry. Cox regression analyses were performed to assess the association between baseline cognitive dispersion scores and dementia incidence, while controlling for sociodemographic variables, ApoEe4 carrier status, co-morbidities, zygosity and lifestyle engagement scores. An additional model included a composite of average cognitive performance. Results Cognitive dispersion and ApoEe4 were significantly associated with dementia diagnosis. These variables remained statistically significant when global cognitive performance was entered into the model. Likelihood ratio tests revealed that cognitive dispersion and cognitive composite scores entered together in the same model was superior to either predictor alone in the full model. Conclusions The study underscores the usefulness of cognitive dispersion metrics for dementia prediction in the oldest-old and highlights the influence of ApoEe4 on cognition in very late age. Our findings concur with others suggesting that health and lifestyle factors pose little impact upon cognition in very advanced age.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anwar S. Alhazmi ◽  
Dania E. Al Agili ◽  
Mohammed S. Aldossary ◽  
Shaker M. Hakami ◽  
Bashaer Y. Almalki ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In spite of the fact that fashion braces (FBs) have been in the spotlight in recent years among both orthodontists and the general public in several countries, there is still limited evidence regarding FBs. The aim was to identify health-related behaviors in using FBs by considering the Health Belief Model (HBM). Methods A cross-sectional study with a random sampling technique was conducted in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. The data was obtained from different middle and high schools students, and first-year students at Jazan University. The questionnaire collected data on demographic characteristics and 27 items to examine the constructs of the HBM. Chi Square test was carried out to establish the factors associated with using, the intention to use, and previous knowledge on the use of fashion braces. Logistic regression analysis was utilized to determine the factors associated with the use of fashion braces. Results 406 study participants completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 88.3%. Majority of respondents were males (52.2%) and > 19 years old (44.3%). Only 9.9% students had used the FBs. However, 25.7% of students had the intention to use them. The perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits and cues to action constructs scores were fair with the mean values of 15.38 (SD = 9.4), 28.17 (SD = 10.8) and 6.65 (SD = 2.50), respectively. However, the perceived barrier score was high with the mean values of 22.14 (SD = 7.50), and lower score of self-efficacy with mean of 8.73 (SD = 3.30). Gender, age, monthly income (family), and education level were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with the use of fashion braces among the study’s participants. Based on the results of logistic regression analysis family income, perceived susceptibility, and risk severity constructs predict the use of fashion braces in the study's sample. Conclusions The current study suggests that the family income, perceived susceptibility, and risk severity of students significantly influence the use of fashion braces. Hence, it is recommended that researchers should investigate effective educational strategies and programs for improving young people’s knowledge about fashion braces and focus more on low family income students so that their using of fashion brace will be decreased.


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