Association between pain and cognitive and daily functional impairment in older institutional residents: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Pain is often neglected in disabled older population, especially in Taiwan where the population of institutional residents is rapidly growing. Our study aimed to investigate pain prevalence and associated factors among institutional residents to improve pain assessment and management. METHODS: This nationwide study recruited 5,746 institutional residents in Taiwan between July 2019 and February 2020. Patient self-report was considered the most valid and reliable indicator of pain. A 5-point verbal rating scale was used to measure pain intensity, with a score ranging from 2 to 5 indicating the presence of pain. Associated factors with pain, including comorbidities, functional dependence, and quality of life, were also assessed. RESULTS: The mean age of the residents was 77.1 ± 13.4 years, with 63.1% of them aged over 75 years. Overall, 40.3% of the residents reported pain, of whom 51.2% had moderate to severe pain. Pain was more common in residents with comorbidities and significantly impacted emotions and behavior problems, and the mean EQ5D score, which is a measure of health-related quality of life (p < .001). Interestingly, pain was only related to instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and not activities of daily living (ADL). On the other hand, dementia was significantly negatively associated with pain (p < .001), with an estimated odds of 0.63 times (95% CI: 0.53-0.75) for the presence of pain when compared to residents who did not have dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Unmanaged pain is common among institutional residents and is associated with comorbidities, IADL, emotional/behavioral problems, and health-related quality of life. Older residents may have lower odds of reporting pain due to difficulty communicating their pain, even through the use of a simple 5-point verbal rating scale. Therefore, more attention and effort should be directed towards improving pain evaluation in this vulnerable population .

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Institutionalized Patients with Parkinson's Disease in Taiwan: A Nationwide Observational Study.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) are known to be frequent in Parkinson's disease (PD) with great impacts on the quality of life, but reports about the prevalence in institutions are few. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for NPSs in institutionalized patients with PD in Taiwan. The National Health Research Institute executed a cross-sectional, community-based, observational study on residential long-term care service institutions. The diagnosis of PD was determined by physicians with the estimated Hoehn and Yahr stage of PD according to the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. A total of 370 patients with PD (80.1 ± 9.94 years old, 55.1% females) were included, and 139 (37.6%) had more than one NPS in the prior 3 months. The top three NPSs were nighttime behavior (65 (17.6%)), depression (53 (14.3%)), and fear/anxiety (49 (13.2%)). There were no differences between those with NPS and those without NPS in terms of age, gender, education, Mini-Mental State Examination, or Hoehn and Yahr stage. However, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that genitourinary disease (odds ratio (OR) = 3.13; 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.77-5.51) and psychiatric disorders (OR = 5.18; 95%CI = 3.09-8.69) may be associated with increased risk of NPSs. Increased physical restraint was observed in residents with advanced PD. Genitourinary disease and psychiatric disorders appear to increase the risk of NPSs in institutionalized residents with PD.

What factors contribute to the need for physical restraint in institutionalized residents in Taiwan?

BACKGROUND: In Taiwan, physical restraint is commonly used in institutions to protect residents from falling or injury. However, physical restraint should be used cautiously to avoid side effects, such as worse cognition, mobility, depression, and even death. OBJECTIVES: To identify the rate of physical restraint and the associated risk factors in institutionalized residents in Taiwan. METHODS: A community-based epidemiological survey was conducted from July 2019 to February 2020 across 266 residential institutions. Among the estimated 6,549 residents being surveyed, a total of 5,752 finished the study. The questionnaires were completed by residents, his/her family or social workers. The cognition tests were conducted by specialists and a multilevel analysis approach was used to identify cognition/disability/medical history/special nursing care/BPSD risk factors for physical restraints. RESULTS: Of the 5,752 included institutionalized residents, 30.2% (1,737) had been previously restrained. Older age, lower education level, lower cognitive function, higher dependence, residents with cerebrovascular disease, pulmonary disease, dementia, and intractable epilepsy, all contributed to a higher physical restraint rate, while orthopedic disease and spinal cord injury were associated with a lower physical restraint rate. Furthermore, residents with special nursing care had a higher restraint rate. Residents with most of the behavior and psychological symptoms were also associated with an increased restraint rate. CONCLUSIONS: We studied the rate of physical restraint and associated risk factors in institutionalized residents in Taiwan. The benefits and risks of physical restraint should be evaluated before application, and adjusted according to different clinical situations.

Biomonitoring of bisphenol A concentrations in maternal and umbilical cord blood in regard to birth outcomes and adipokine expression: a birth cohort study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Bisphenol A (BPA) is a sealant and flux of plastic materials and has been determined to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical. Prenatal exposure to BPA can lead to substantial adverse effects on fetal growth and development. This study was conducted to assess BPA concentration in pregnant women and umbilical cord blood, and to investigate whether maternal BPA exposure affected fetal outcomes including lower birth weight (LBW), smaller size for gestational age (SGA), and high leptin (HLP) and low adiponectin (LAD) secretion. METHODS: We measured the BPA levels of maternal blood (n = 97) and umbilical cord blood (n = 97) with a high-performance liquid chromatography/UV detector. The protein secretion of leptin and adiponectin were separately determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A logistic regression was performed to estimate the effects of maternal exposure to BPA on LBW, SGA, and adverse action of adipokines in newborns. RESULTS: The geometric means of BPA concentration in maternal blood and fetal cord blood were 2.5 ng/ml and 0.5 ng/ml, respectively. Elevated risks of LBW (OR 2.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.72-3.36), SGA (OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.39-3.01), and adverse action of leptin (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.12-2.25) and adiponectin (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.52-3.97) were observed in male neonates in the highest quartile of maternal BPA exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated prenatal BPA exposure increased the risk of LBW, SGA, and adverse actions of adipokines in neonates, especially in male infants. These results provide further evidence that maternal exposure is correlated with adverse birth outcomes.

Behavioral and psychological symptoms in institutional residents with dementia in Taiwan.

AIM: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are important predictors for institutional placement, caregiver distress and depression for patients with dementia. We aim to investigate BPSD in institutional residents with dementia in Taiwan. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide study surveying institutional residents in Taiwan. Institutional residents from 22 counties and cities in Taiwan were recruited and analyzed in our study. We recorded demographic data, severity of dementia and disability, presence of BPSD, and past medical history of institutional residents in Taiwan. We recorded the characteristics of BPSD and analyzed the possible risks of BPSD in residents with dementia. RESULTS: A total of 4722 institutional residents were recruited and analyzed in our study. The prevalence of dementia was 87.2% (4119 residents). Among residents with dementia, 1546 (37.5%) had presented BPSD in the past 3 months. The most frequent three types of BPSD were nighttime behavior (17.9%), resistance against care (13.4%) and depression (12.9%). Old age, female gender, and lower MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) scores were associated with BPSD. Moderate dementia (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.30-2.31) and mild activities of daily living (ADL) dependence (OR = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.06-4.27) increased the risks of BPSD. Reviews of past medical history showed that orthopedic disease, eye disease, genitourinary disease, dementia, psychiatric disorder and intellectual disability were associated with increasing risks of BPSD. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that moderate dementia and mild ADL dependence increased the risks of BPSD in institutional residents with dementia. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 718-724.

Multiparametric graph theoretical analysis reveals altered structural and functional network topology in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), an irreversible neurodegenerative disease, is the most common type of dementia in elderly people. This present study incorporated multiple structural and functional connectivity metrics into a graph theoretical analysis framework and investigated alterations in brain network topology in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD. By using this multiparametric analysis, we expected different connectivity metrics may reflect additional or complementary information regarding the topological changes in brain networks in MCI or AD. In our study, a total of 73 subjects participated in this study and underwent the magnetic resonance imaging scans. For the structural network, we compared commonly used connectivity metrics, including fractional anisotropy and normalized streamline count, with multiple diffusivity-based metrics. We compared Pearson correlation and covariance by investigating their sensitivities to functional network topology. Significant disruption of structural network topology in MCI and AD was found predominantly in regions within the limbic system, prefrontal and occipital regions, in addition to widespread alterations of local efficiency. At a global scale, our results showed that the disruption of the structural network was consistent across different edge definitions and global network metrics from the MCI to AD stages. Significant changes in connectivity and tract-specific diffusivity were also found in several limbic connections. Our findings suggest that tract-specific metrics (e.g., fractional anisotropy and diffusivity) provide more sensitive and interpretable measurements than does metrics based on streamline count. Besides, the use of inversed radial diffusivity provided additional information for understanding alterations in network topology caused by AD progression and its possible origins. Use of this proposed multiparametric network analysis framework may facilitate early MCI diagnosis and AD prevention.