Masticatory coefficient and physical functioning in older frail patients admitted for a Comprehensive Gerontological Assessment.

BACKGROUND: Physical functioning may be limited in older, frail patients with missing teeth without prosthetic correction. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between physical performance and the geriatric masticatory coefficient (GMC) in patients who underwent both a comprehensive gerontological assessment (CGA) to improve poly-pathology management and an intra-oral exam. METHODS: All patients were evaluated based on the following: (corrected) GMC, number of posterior occluding pairs (POPs), short physical performance battery (SPPB) or timed up and go (TUG) test, and mini-nutritional assessment (MNA). RESULTS: Of the 256 patients (mean age 83.76[SD 6.16], 148F), 75 (29.30%) were malnourished. The corrected GMC was lower in malnourished patients. When adjusted for age, gender, and MNA, the corrected GMC correlated with the TUG time (r=-0.198, p=0.005) and SPPB score (r=0.282, p=0.009). Correlations between GMC and POPs were determined for the SPPB (r=0.269, p=0.013; r=0.319, p=0.004, respectively) but not for the TUG (r=-0.108, p=0.128; r=-0.136, p=0.072). CONCLUSION: The correlation between physical performance and decreased masticatory capacity was not fully explained by malnutrition in mildly to severely frail and multi-morbid patients; posture may also be impaired by missing teeth. The study of dental care effects on physical performance will provide further insights.

Safety and efficacy of a standardized intracameral combination of mydriatics and anesthetic for cataract surgery in type-2 diabetic patients.

BACKGROUND: Cataract surgery in diabetics is more technically challenging due to a number of factors including poor intraoperative pupil dilation and a higher risk of vision threatening complications. This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of an intracameral combination of 2 mydriatics and 1 anesthetic (ICMA, Mydrane) for cataract surgery in patients with well-controlled type-2 diabetes. METHODS: Post-hoc subgroup analysis of a phase 3 randomized study, comparing ICMA to a conventional topical regimen. Data were collected from 68 centers in Europe and Algeria. Only well-controlled type-2 diabetics, free of pre-proliferative retinopathy, were included. The results for non-diabetics are also reported. The primary efficacy variable was successful capsulorhexis without additional mydriatic treatment. Postoperative safety included adverse events, endothelial cell density and vision. RESULTS: Among 591 randomized patients, 57 (9.6%) had controlled type 2 diabetes [24 (42.1%) in the ICMA Group and 33 (57.9%) in the Topical Group; intention-to-treat (ITT) set]. Among diabetics, capsulorhexis was successfully performed without additional mydriatics in 24 (96.0%; modified-ITT set) patients in the ICMA Group and 26 (89.7%) in the Topical Group. These proportions were similar in non-diabetics. No diabetic patient [1 (0.5%) non-diabetics] in the ICMA Group had a significant decrease in pupil size (≥3 mm) intraoperatively compared to 4 (16.0%; modified-ITT set) diabetics [16 (7.3%) non-diabetics] in the Topical group. Ocular AE among diabetics occurred in 2 (8.0%; Safety set) patients in the ICMA Group and 5 (16.7%) in the Topical Group. Endothelial cell density at 1 month postoperatively was similar between groups in diabetics (P = 0.627) and non-diabetics (P = 0.368). CONCLUSIONS: ICMA is effective and can be safely used in patients with well-controlled diabetes, with potential advantages compared to a topical regimen including reduced systemic risk, better corneal integrity and reduced risk of ocular complications. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at (reference # NCT02101359) on April 2, 2014.

Assistive Technologies to Address Capabilities of People with Dementia: From Research to Practice.

Assistive technologies became pervasive and virtually present in all our life domains. They can be either an enabler or an obstacle leading to social exclusion. The Fondation Médéric Alzheimer gathered international experts of dementia care, with backgrounds in biomedical, human and social sciences, to analyze how assistive technologies can address the capabilities of people with dementia, on the basis of their needs. Discussion covered the unmet needs of people with dementia, the domains of daily life activities where assistive technologies can provide help to people with dementia, the enabling and empowering impact of technology to improve their safety and wellbeing, barriers and limits of use, technology assessment, ethical and legal issues. The capability approach (possible freedom) appears particularly relevant in person-centered dementia care and technology development. The focus is not on the solution, rather on what the person can do with it: seeing dementia as disability, with technology as an enabler to promote capabilities of the person, provides a useful framework for both research and practice. This article summarizes how these concepts took momentum in professional practice and public policies in the past 15 years (2000-2015), discusses current issues in the design, development and economic model of assistive technologies for people with dementia, and covers how these technologies are being used and assessed.

Dementia beyond 2025: Knowledge and uncertainties.

Given that there may well be no significant advances in drug development before 2025, prevention of dementia-Alzheimer's disease through the management of vascular and lifestyle-related risk factors may be a more realistic goal than treatment. Level of education and cognitive reserve assessment in neuropsychological testing deserve attention, as well as cultural, social, and economic aspects of caregiving. Assistive technologies for dementia care remain complex. Serious games are emerging as virtual educational and pleasurable tools, designed for individual and cooperative skill building. Public policies are likely to pursue improving awareness and understanding of dementia; providing good quality early diagnosis and intervention for all; improving quality of care from diagnosis to the end of life, using clinical and economic end points; delivering dementia strategies quicker, with an impact on more people. Dementia should remain presented as a stand-alone concept, distinct from frailty or loss of autonomy. The basic science of sensory impairment and social engagement in people with dementia needs to be developed. E-learning and serious games programs may enhance public and professional education. Faced with funding shortage, new professional dynamics and economic models may emerge through coordinated, flexible research networks. Psychosocial research could be viewed as an investment in quality of care, rather than an academic achievement in a few centers of excellence. This would help provide a competitive advantage to the best operators. Stemming from care needs, a logical, systems approach to dementia care environment through organizational, architectural, and psychosocial interventions may be developed, to help reduce symptoms in people with dementia and enhance quality of life. Dementia-friendly environments, culture, and domesticity are key factors for such interventions.

[Sensory functions and Alzheimer's disease: a multi-disciplinary approach]. / Les fonctions sensorielles et la maladie d'Alzheimer : une approche multidisciplinaire.

Relations between sensory functions and Alzheimer's disease are still under-explored. To understand them better, the Fondation Médéric Alzheimer has brought together a multi-disciplinary expert group. Aristote's five senses must be enhanced by today's knowledge of proprioception, motor cognition and pain perception. When cognition breaks down, the person with dementia perceives the world around her with her sensory experience, yet is unable to integrate all this information to understand the context. The treatment of multiple sensory inputs by the brain is closely linked to cognitive processes. Sensory deficits reduce considerably the autonomy of people with dementia in their daily life and their relations with others, increase their social isolation and the risk of accidents. Professionals involved with neurodegenerative diseases remain poorly aware of sensory deficits, which can bias the results of cognitive tests. However, there are simple tools to detect these deficits, notably for vision, hearing and balance disorders, which can be corrected. Many interventions for cognitive rehabilitation or quality of life improvement are based on sensory functions. The environment of people with dementia must be adapted to become understandable, comfortable, safe and eventually therapeutic.

An overview of the use of music therapy in the context of Alzheimer's disease: a report of a French expert group.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this overview is to present the developments of music therapy in France, its techniques, mechanisms and principal indications, mainly in the context of Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: An international review of the literature on music therapy applied to Alzheimer's disease was conducted using the principal scientific search engines. A work group of experts in music therapy and psychosocial techniques then considered the different points highlighted in the review of literature and discussed them. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Clinical and neurophysiological studies have enlightened some positive benefits of music in providing support for people with Alzheimer's disease or related disorders. Music therapy acts mainly through emotional and psycho-physiological pathways. It includes a series of techniques that can respond to targeted therapeutic objectives. Some studies have shown that music therapy reduces anxiety, alleviates periods of depression and aggressive behaviour and thus significantly improves mood, communication and autonomy of patients. CONCLUSION: Psychosocial interventions, such as music therapy, can contribute to maintain or rehabilitate functional cognitive and sensory abilities, as well as emotional and social skills and to reduce the severity of some behavioural disorders.

[What prevention programmes and which organizations are needed to support healthy ageing?]. / Quelles actions de prévention et quelles organisations pour un vieillissement réussi?

Physical activity and exercise are recognized as one of the determinants of health. This study aims to produce a review of the logical foundations at work that support the identification of a public health problem for this determinant and how to address it through national action. The research is based on cross-analysis of data from semi-directed interviews and data extracted from documents on the development, implementation and follow-up of such actions and programmes. The study shows that fourteen national programmes were created and implemented by seven different agencies. These fourteen activities scored an average of 175 +/- 66.9 out of 300%. Actors and professionals in the field must be given more capacity to be implicated and involved while simultaneously encouraging the strengthening of relationships with their environment, in particular the institutional and organizational settings as well as the community components. In general, the structural and operational aspects of action are those which receive the most investment in such activities. Six main points arose as important: doping considered as a addictive mechanism, acknowledgement of the psychological suffering of professional athletes, youth at high risk of doping, and that the concepts of physical activity and sports should take into account a risk/ benefit analysis and the necessity to first and foremost promote health. The act of sharing and exchanging a number of experiences, at the local and regional level, resulted in the identification of synergies between these experiences on a continuum from "health promotion through physical activity and sports" to "prevention of doping". Within this framework, professionals were able to develop activities in the aforementioned domains, which until now had remained isolated and marginal. Recommendations were made to reinforce and strengthen this dynamic. Other determinants of health and public health priorities could be explored using the same methodology.