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1.
Journal of Clinical Neurology ; : 368-375, 2021.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-899145

ABSTRACT

Background@#and Purpose: Reportedly 30–50% of patients being treated for chronic illnesses do not adhere to their medication regimen. We assessed the impact of a nurse-led education program for caregivers of Korean de novo Alzheimer’s disease patients who had newly been prescribed donepezil. @*Methods@#This multicenter study analyzed 93 participants in a caregiver education group and 92 participants in a caregiver no-education group. At every visit up to the end of the study (1 year), caregivers in the education group were given educational brochures regarding Alzheimer’s disease and the efficacy and adverse events of donepezil treatment. The primary endpoint was the discontinuation rate of donepezil treatment during the 1-year observation period. The secondary endpoints included the effect of education on compliance with donepezil treatment assessed at each visit using a clinician rating scale (CRS) and visual analog scale (VAS), and changes from baseline in cognitive assessment tests. @*Results@#The donepezil discontinuation rates at 1 year were 5.38% (5/93) and 6.52% (6/92) in the caregiver education and no-education groups, respectively (p=0.742). No significant between-group differences in donepezil compliance rates on the CRS and VAS were observed, but significant changes were observed in some cognitive tests from baseline to the end of the study. @*Conclusions@#Caregiver education had no significant effect on treatment discontinuation, but this may have been due to the low severity of cognitive impairment among the included population at baseline. In addition, the low discontinuation rates meant that no significant difference in treatment compliance was observed.

2.
Journal of Clinical Neurology ; : 376-384, 2021.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-899144

ABSTRACT

Background@#and Purpose The rate of donepezil discontinuation and the underlying reasons for discontinuation in Asian patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are currently unknown. We aimed to determine the treatment discontinuation rates in AD patients who had newly been prescribed donepezil in routine clinical practice in Asia. @*Methods@#This 1-year observational study involved 38 institutions in seven Asian countries, and it evaluated 398 participants aged 50–90 years with a diagnosis of probable AD and on newly prescribed donepezil monotherapy. The primary endpoint was the rate of donepezil discontinuation over 1 year. Secondary endpoints included the reason for discontinuation,treatment duration, changes in cognitive function over the 1-year study period, and compliance as assessed using a clinician rating scale (CRS) and visual analog scale (VAS). @*Results@#Donepezil was discontinued in 83 (20.9%) patients, most commonly due to an adverse event (43.4%). The mean treatment duration was 103.67 days in patients who discontinued. Among patients whose cognitive function was assessed at baseline and 1 year, there were no significant changes in scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and Trail-Making Test–Black and White scores, whereas the Clinical Dementia Rating score increased significantly (p<0.001). Treatment compliance at 1 year was 96.8% (306/316) on the CRS and 92.6±14.1% (mean±standard deviation) on the VAS. @*Conclusions@#In patients on newly prescribed donepezil, the primary reason for discontinuation was an adverse event. Cognitive assessments revealed no significant worsening at 1 year, indicating that continuous donepezil treatment contributes to the maintenance of cognitive function.

3.
Journal of Clinical Neurology ; : 368-375, 2021.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-891441

ABSTRACT

Background@#and Purpose: Reportedly 30–50% of patients being treated for chronic illnesses do not adhere to their medication regimen. We assessed the impact of a nurse-led education program for caregivers of Korean de novo Alzheimer’s disease patients who had newly been prescribed donepezil. @*Methods@#This multicenter study analyzed 93 participants in a caregiver education group and 92 participants in a caregiver no-education group. At every visit up to the end of the study (1 year), caregivers in the education group were given educational brochures regarding Alzheimer’s disease and the efficacy and adverse events of donepezil treatment. The primary endpoint was the discontinuation rate of donepezil treatment during the 1-year observation period. The secondary endpoints included the effect of education on compliance with donepezil treatment assessed at each visit using a clinician rating scale (CRS) and visual analog scale (VAS), and changes from baseline in cognitive assessment tests. @*Results@#The donepezil discontinuation rates at 1 year were 5.38% (5/93) and 6.52% (6/92) in the caregiver education and no-education groups, respectively (p=0.742). No significant between-group differences in donepezil compliance rates on the CRS and VAS were observed, but significant changes were observed in some cognitive tests from baseline to the end of the study. @*Conclusions@#Caregiver education had no significant effect on treatment discontinuation, but this may have been due to the low severity of cognitive impairment among the included population at baseline. In addition, the low discontinuation rates meant that no significant difference in treatment compliance was observed.

4.
Journal of Clinical Neurology ; : 376-384, 2021.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-891440

ABSTRACT

Background@#and Purpose The rate of donepezil discontinuation and the underlying reasons for discontinuation in Asian patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are currently unknown. We aimed to determine the treatment discontinuation rates in AD patients who had newly been prescribed donepezil in routine clinical practice in Asia. @*Methods@#This 1-year observational study involved 38 institutions in seven Asian countries, and it evaluated 398 participants aged 50–90 years with a diagnosis of probable AD and on newly prescribed donepezil monotherapy. The primary endpoint was the rate of donepezil discontinuation over 1 year. Secondary endpoints included the reason for discontinuation,treatment duration, changes in cognitive function over the 1-year study period, and compliance as assessed using a clinician rating scale (CRS) and visual analog scale (VAS). @*Results@#Donepezil was discontinued in 83 (20.9%) patients, most commonly due to an adverse event (43.4%). The mean treatment duration was 103.67 days in patients who discontinued. Among patients whose cognitive function was assessed at baseline and 1 year, there were no significant changes in scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and Trail-Making Test–Black and White scores, whereas the Clinical Dementia Rating score increased significantly (p<0.001). Treatment compliance at 1 year was 96.8% (306/316) on the CRS and 92.6±14.1% (mean±standard deviation) on the VAS. @*Conclusions@#In patients on newly prescribed donepezil, the primary reason for discontinuation was an adverse event. Cognitive assessments revealed no significant worsening at 1 year, indicating that continuous donepezil treatment contributes to the maintenance of cognitive function.

6.
Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders ; : 138-148, 2019.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-785690

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is the most common cause of vascular dementia and a major contributor to mixed dementia. CSVD is characterized by progressive cerebral white matter changes (WMC) due to chronic low perfusion and loss of autoregulation. In addition to its antiplatelet effect, cilostazol exerts a vasodilating effect and improves endothelial function. This study aims to compare the effects of cilostazol and aspirin on changes in WMC volume in CSVD.METHODS: The comparison study of Cilostazol and aspirin on cHAnges in volume of cerebral smaLL vEssel disease white matter chaNGEs (CHALLENGE) is a double blind, randomized trial involving 19 hospitals across South Korea. Patients with moderate or severe WMC and ≥ 1 lacunar infarction detected on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are eligible; the projected sample size is 254. Participants are randomly assigned to a cilostazol or aspirin group at a 1:1 ratio. Cilostazol slow release 200 mg or aspirin 100 mg are taken once daily for 2 years. The primary outcome measure is the change in WMC volume on MRI from baseline to 104 weeks. Secondary imaging outcomes include changes in the number of lacunes and cerebral microbleeds, fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity on diffusion tensor imaging, and brain atrophy. Secondary clinical outcomes include all ischemic strokes, all vascular events, and changes in cognition, motor function, mood, urinary symptoms, and disability.CONCLUSIONS: CHALLENGE will provide evidence to support the selection of long-term antiplatelet therapy in CSVD.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01932203


Subject(s)
Humans , Anisotropy , Aspirin , Atrophy , Brain , Cerebral Small Vessel Diseases , Cognition , Dementia , Dementia, Vascular , Diffusion Tensor Imaging , Homeostasis , Korea , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Perfusion , Sample Size , Stroke , Stroke, Lacunar , White Matter
7.
Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders ; : 68-74, 2016.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-105259

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and their caregivers are concerned with the likelihood and time course of progression to dementia. This study was performed to identify the clinical predictors of the MCI progression in a Korean registry, and investigated the effects of medications without evidence, frequently prescribed in clinical practice. METHODS: Using a Korean cohort that included older adults with MCI who completed at least one follow-up visit, clinical characteristics and total medical expenses including prescribed medications were compared between two groups: progressed to dementia or not. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was conducted. RESULTS: During the mean 1.42±0.72 years, 215 (27.63%) of 778 participants progressed to dementia. The best predictors were age [hazard ratio (HR), 1.036; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.006–1.067; p=0.018], apolipoprotein ε4 allele (HR, 2.247; 95% CI, 1.512–3.337; p<0.001), Clinical Dementia Rating scale-sum of boxes scores (HR, 1.367; 95% CI, 1.143–1.636; p=0.001), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living scores (HR, 1.035; 95% CI, 1.003–1.067; p=0.029), and lower Mini-Mental State Examination scores (HR, 0.892; 95% CI, 0.839–0.949; p<0.001). Total medical expenses were not different. CONCLUSIONS: Our data are in accordance with previous reports about clinical predictors for the progression from MCI to dementia. Total medical expenses were not different between groups with and without progression.


Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Activities of Daily Living , Alleles , Apolipoproteins , Caregivers , Cholinesterase Inhibitors , Cohort Studies , Dementia , Follow-Up Studies , Cognitive Dysfunction
8.
Journal of the Korean Neurological Association ; : 14-22, 2016.
Article in Korean | WPRIM | ID: wpr-20862

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The verbal fluency test consists of two separate tests of semantic fluency and phonemic fluency. The performance patterns of these tests differ with the type of dementia. We studied the patterns of verbal fluency between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and subcortical vascular dementia (SVaD), and assessed the clinical utility of these tests. METHODS: The 1,475 selected participants comprised 73 normal control subjects, 673 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), 535 AD patients, 42 patients with subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment (svMCI), and 152 SVaD patients. We analyzed the z-score for the total number of animal items as a semantic fluency index and the z-score of the phonemic total score as a phonemic fluency index. RESULTS: The performance of semantic fluency was lower than that of phonemic fluency in all groups. The SVaD group showed the worst scores and abnormal performances on both tests, while the AD group presented abnormal performance only for semantic fluency. Dividing the patients with dementia according to severity revealed a different pattern between AD and SVaD for the clinical dementia rating (CDR) stage of 0.5. The performance of the AD group declined gradually with CDR. However, the SVaD group performed very poorly in both tests even for very mild dementia (CDR stage of 0.5). The aMCI and svMCI groups exhibited similar performance patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of semantic and phonemic fluency was not clinically useful at the MCI stage, but it could be helpful in differentiating AD and SVaD in the early stage of dementia.


Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Alzheimer Disease , Dementia , Dementia, Vascular , Cognitive Dysfunction , Semantics , Task Performance and Analysis
9.
Psychiatry Investigation ; : 305-315, 2015.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-98269

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to provide normative data on the Literacy Independent Cognitive Assessment (LICA) and to explore the effects of age, education/literacy, and gender on the performance of this test. METHODS: Eight hundred and eighty-eight healthy elderly subjects, including 164 healthy illiterate subjects, participated in this study. None of the participants had serious medical, psychiatric, or neurological disorders including dementia. Bivariate linear regression analyses were performed to examine the effects of age, education/literacy, and sex on the score in each of the LICA cognitive tests. The normative scores for each age and education/literacy groups are presented. RESULTS: Bivariate linear regression analyses revealed that total score and all cognitive tests of the LICA were significantly influenced by both age and education/literacy. Younger and more-educated subjects outperformed older and illiterate or less-educated subjects, respectively, in all of the tests. The normative scores of LICA total score and subset score were presented according to age (60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-80, and > or =80 years) and educational levels (illiterate, and 0-3, 4-6, and > or =7 years of education). CONCLUSION: These results on demographic variables suggest that age and education should be taken into account when attempting to accurately interpret the results of the LICA cognitive subtests. These normative data will be useful for clinical interpretations of the LICA neuropsychological battery in illiterate and literate elderly Koreans. Similar normative studies and validations of the LICA involving different ethnic groups will help to enhance the dementia diagnosis of illiterate people of different ethnicities.


Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Dementia , Diagnosis , Education , Ethnicity , Linear Models , Nervous System Diseases
10.
Journal of Korean Medical Science ; : 1652-1658, 2015.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-66168

ABSTRACT

Subjective memory impairment (SMI) is now increasingly recognized as a risk factor of progression to dementia. This study investigated gray and white matter changes in the brains of SMI patients compared with normal controls and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients. We recruited 28 normal controls, 28 subjects with SMI, and 29 patients with MCI aged 60 or older. We analyzed gray and white matter changes using a voxel-based morphometry (VBM), hippocampal volumetry and regions of interest in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). DTI parameters of corpus callosum and cingulum in SMI showed more white matter changes compared with those in normal controls, they were similar to those in MCI except in the hippocampus, which showed more degenerations in MCI. In VBM, SMI showed atrophy in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes compared with normal controls although it was not as extensive as that in MCI. Patients with SMI showed gray and white matter degenerations, the changes were distinct in white matter structures. SMI might be the first presenting symptom within the Alzheimer's disease continuum when combined with additional risk factors and neurodegenerative changes.


Subject(s)
Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Brain/pathology , Diagnosis, Differential , Diffusion Tensor Imaging/methods , Gray Matter/pathology , Memory Disorders/diagnosis , Cognitive Dysfunction/complications , Neurodegenerative Diseases/complications , Reference Values , Reproducibility of Results , Sensitivity and Specificity , White Matter/pathology
11.
Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders ; : 101-106, 2014.
Article in Korean | WPRIM | ID: wpr-204666

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Activities daily living (ADL) disability has a direct influence on the patients' quality of life and on the amount of care needed. It is major factor of care in dementia patients. So Korean Dementia Association suggested guideline about activities of daily living in dementia patients in 2013. The purpose of this article is to investigate the effect of this. METHODS: A total of 110 subjects were enrolled. Assessments included age, sex, education level of patients and caregiver, the duration of disease, pattern of family, economic status. We divided "active practice" group and "passive practice" group by recognition of guideline contents after study. We compared two groups before and after by Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE), Short form of Geriatric Depression Scale-Korean version (S-GDS), Korean version of Zarit's Burden Interview (ZBI-K), Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living scale (ADCS-ADL). Finally, we investigate the level of satisfaction about our guideline. RESULTS: Age of patients, the duration of disease was lower and education level of caregiver and economic status was higher in "active practice group". The pattern of family also differed from two groups. It was observed distinct difference between the variations of two groups in S-GDS, ZBI-K, and ADCS-ADL. The level of satisfaction about our guideline was very high. CONCLUSION: Considering these results, our guideline about activities of daily living is effective to manage dementia patient. Active application of it is needed in clinic or center for dementia.


Subject(s)
Humans , Activities of Daily Living , Alzheimer Disease , Caregivers , Dementia , Depression , Education , Quality of Life
12.
Journal of the Korean Geriatrics Society ; : 16-23, 2014.
Article in Korean | WPRIM | ID: wpr-182704

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The early stage of Alzheimer disease might show early memory impairment with normal general cognitive function. Our study aimed to investigate elderly with normal Korean version of mini-mental state examination (K-MMSE) score and recall score of 0 for 1 year. We predicted that the patients would show different characteristics and would progress more rapidly compared with normal controls. METHODS: This study was based on the data from complete enumeration survey of Mapo-gu Regional Center for Dementia in 2009. We divided all subjects into three groups: subjects with normal K-MMSE scores and recall score of 0 were group 1-1 (n=152), subjects with abnormal K-MMSE scores were group 1-2 (n=64) and subjects with normal K-MMSE scores and recall score of 1 to 3 were group 1-3 (n=941). We compared basic demographics and social characteristics among the three groups. After 1 year (2010), the subjects in group 1-1 (90 out of 152) underwent follow-up examinations for dementia diagnosis. They were also divided into three groups (2-1, 2-2, 2-3) according to K-MMSE and recall scores. RESULTS: Group 1-1 showed different baseline characteristics compared with normal controls. After 1 year, 25.5% (23 out of 90) of the group 2-1 were diagnosed as mild cognitive impairment (n=16) or dementia (n=7). CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that subjects with normal K-MMSE scores but recall score of 0 are not entirely "normal". Further detailed evaluation might be needed if memory impairment is suspicious although the K-MMSE scores are within normal range.


Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Alzheimer Disease , Dementia , Demography , Diagnosis , Follow-Up Studies , Memory , Cognitive Dysfunction , Pilot Projects , Reference Values , Sociology
13.
Journal of Clinical Neurology ; : 111-117, 2013.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-205175

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Literacy-Independent Cognitive Assessment (LICA) has been developed for a diagnosis of dementia and is a useful neuropsychological test battery for illiterate populations as well as literate populations. The objective of this study was to develop the short form of the LICA (S-LICA) and to evaluate the reliability and validity of the S-LICA. METHODS: The subtests of the S-LICA were selected based on the factor analysis and validation study results of the LICA. Patients with dementia (n=101) and normal elderly controls (n=185) participated in this study. RESULTS: Cronbach's coefficient alpha of the S-LICA was 0.92 for illiterate subjects and 0.94 for literate subjects, and the item-total correlation ranged from 0.63 to 0.81 (p<.01).The test-retest reliability of the S-LICA total score was high (r=0.94, p<.001), and the subtests had high test-retest reliabilities (r=0.68-0.87, p<.01). The correlation between the K-MMSE and S-LICA total scores were substantial in both the illiterate subjects (r=0.837, p<.001) and the literate subjects(r=0.802, p<.001). The correlation between the S-LICA and LICA was very high (r=0.989, p<.001). The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic was 0.999 for the literate subjects and 0.985 for the illiterate subjects. The sensitivity and specificity of the S-LICA for a diagnosis of dementia were 97% and 96% at the cutoff point of 72 for the literate subjects, and 96% and 93% at the cutoff point of 68 for the illiterate subjects, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the S-LICA is a reliable and valid instrument for quick evaluation of patients with dementia in both illiterate and literate elderly populations.


Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Dementia , Literacy , Neuropsychological Tests , Reproducibility of Results , ROC Curve , Sensitivity and Specificity
14.
Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders ; : 47-51, 2013.
Article in Korean | WPRIM | ID: wpr-35725

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Disability of Activities of daily living (ADL) is the most important factor for care of dementia patients. So Korean Dementia Association has prepared the survey for current state and cognition of active daily living in Korean dementia patients. METHODS: A total of 100 subjects were interviewed. Structured open and closed questions about ADL for dementia were asked. They are main caregivers of dementia patients who working over 5hours per day. Assessments included age, sex, education level, economic status, severity of dementia patients, pattern of the care-giving, current state and cognition of ADL, and needs of the caregivers. RESULTS: The cognition of ADL was very low (51%) and this is correlated with economic status. Increasing of care-giving time is the most stressful for caregivers, they frequently suffered from disability of outgoing and personal hygiene. Dementia patient's ADL disability causes serious economic losses, need of the caregivers about guide lines or education program was very high. CONCLUSION: Considering these results, we should design more detailed study about dementia patient's ADL disability and prepare guide line or program for it.


Subject(s)
Humans , Activities of Daily Living , Caregivers , Cognition , Dementia , Hygiene
15.
Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders ; : 13-17, 2012.
Article in Korean | WPRIM | ID: wpr-133509

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cultural characteristics of taking care of patients with dementia in Korea are based on the influence of Confucianism on the lifestyle of Koreans. In addition, as the family size has been getting smaller, the number of old persons who live alone has been increasing. The purpose of this study is to examine the proportion of the elderly with dementia who live alone and demographics of caregivers when such patients live with their family. METHODS: From the multiple hospital-based cohort, 973 elderly patients with very mild dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating [CDR]=0.5), 1,056 patients with mild dementia (CDR=1) and 359 patients with moderate dementia (CDR=2) were recruited. We analyzed the proportion of the patients with dementia who live alone and the demographics of the caregivers if such patients live with and are taken care of by such caregivers depending upon the severity of dementia. RESULTS: The proportion of the patients with dementia who live alone accounts for about 40% of all elderly patients with dementia. Major age groups of caregivers are of 40s and 50s. Sons, daughters, and spouses were ranked in the said order in the proportion of caregivers according to their relationship to patients. CONCLUSIONS: Up to now, family members care for about 60% of elderly patients with dementia, which may suggest that from the objective viewpoint, direct burden borne by caregivers for old patients with dementia would be considerably high. On the other hand, about 40% of dementia patients live alone, implying that the social care system is needed for them.


Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Caregivers , Cohort Studies , Confucianism , Cultural Characteristics , Dementia , Demography , Family Characteristics , Hand , Korea , Life Style , Nuclear Family , Spouses
16.
Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders ; : 13-17, 2012.
Article in Korean | WPRIM | ID: wpr-133508

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cultural characteristics of taking care of patients with dementia in Korea are based on the influence of Confucianism on the lifestyle of Koreans. In addition, as the family size has been getting smaller, the number of old persons who live alone has been increasing. The purpose of this study is to examine the proportion of the elderly with dementia who live alone and demographics of caregivers when such patients live with their family. METHODS: From the multiple hospital-based cohort, 973 elderly patients with very mild dementia (Clinical Dementia Rating [CDR]=0.5), 1,056 patients with mild dementia (CDR=1) and 359 patients with moderate dementia (CDR=2) were recruited. We analyzed the proportion of the patients with dementia who live alone and the demographics of the caregivers if such patients live with and are taken care of by such caregivers depending upon the severity of dementia. RESULTS: The proportion of the patients with dementia who live alone accounts for about 40% of all elderly patients with dementia. Major age groups of caregivers are of 40s and 50s. Sons, daughters, and spouses were ranked in the said order in the proportion of caregivers according to their relationship to patients. CONCLUSIONS: Up to now, family members care for about 60% of elderly patients with dementia, which may suggest that from the objective viewpoint, direct burden borne by caregivers for old patients with dementia would be considerably high. On the other hand, about 40% of dementia patients live alone, implying that the social care system is needed for them.


Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Caregivers , Cohort Studies , Confucianism , Cultural Characteristics , Dementia , Demography , Family Characteristics , Hand , Korea , Life Style , Nuclear Family , Spouses
17.
Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders ; : 141-145, 2012.
Article in Korean | WPRIM | ID: wpr-32944

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The interlocking pentagon drawing test, a part of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), is a widely used clinical practice to measure visuoconstructional ability of dementia patients. We investigated the anatomical structures of brain associated with pentagon drawing in subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) by using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). METHODS: Medical records of forty-four AD patients were reviewed and a 1.5 T SPGR 3D image data were used for VBM analysis. A voxel-based multiple regression analysis was used to investigate correlation between gray matter loss and pentagon drawing performance of AD patients. The correlations between pentagon drawing score and MMSE score were evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis. RESULTS: There was a positive correlation between the interlocking pentagon copying scores and the MMSE scores (r=0.448, p=0.002). The lower the scores of interlocking pentagon copying were, the more severe the atrophy of right inferior frontal gyrus became ([x, y, z]=[52, 39, 3], Broadmann area 45, and z score=3.86). CONCLUSIONS: The performance of interlocking pentagon drawing is associated with a general cognitive function in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease. It is also associated with the atrophy of the right inferior frontal gyrus.


Subject(s)
Humans , Alzheimer Disease , Atrophy , Brain , Coat Protein Complex I , Dementia , Medical Records
18.
Journal of Clinical Neurology ; : 60-68, 2011.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-211525

ABSTRACT

The pathophysiologic process of Alzheimer's disease (AD) begins years before the diagnosis of clinical dementia. This concept of preclinical AD has arisen from the observation of AD pathologic findings such as senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of people who at the time of death had normal cognitive function. Recent advances in biomarker studies now provide the ability to detect the pathologic changes of AD, which are antecedent to symptoms of the illness, in cognitively normal individuals. Functional and structural brain alterations that begin with amyloid-beta accumulation already show the patterns of abnormality seen in individuals with dementia due to AD. The presence of preclinical AD provides a critical opportunity for potential interventions with disease-modifying therapy. This review focuses on the studies of antecedent biomarkers for preclinical AD.


Subject(s)
Aging , Alzheimer Disease , Biomarkers , Brain , Dementia , Neurofibrillary Tangles , Plaque, Amyloid
19.
Journal of Korean Medical Science ; : 1219-1226, 2011.
Article in English | WPRIM | ID: wpr-28035

ABSTRACT

With rapid population aging, the socioeconomic burden caused by dementia care is snowballing. Although a few community-based studies of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been performed in Korea, there has never been a nationwide hospital-based study thereof. We aimed to identify the demographics and clinical characteristics of mild-to-moderate AD patients from the Clinical Research Center for Dementia of Korea (CREDOS) registry. A total of 1,786 patients were consecutively included from September 2005 to June 2010. Each patient underwent comprehensive neurological examination, interview for caregivers, laboratory investigations, neuropsychological tests, and brain MRI. The mean age was 74.0 yr and the female percentage 67.0%. The mean period of education was 7.1 yr and the frequency of early-onset AD (< 65 yr old) was 18.8%. Among the vascular risk factors, hypertension (48.9%) and diabetes mellitus (22.3%) were the most frequent. The mean score of the Korean version of Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) was 19.2 and the mean sum of box scores of Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR-SB) 5.1. Based on the well-structured, nationwide, and hospital-based registry, this study provides the unique clinical characteristics of AD and emphasizes the importance of vascular factors in AD in Korea.


Subject(s)
Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Alzheimer Disease/complications , Brain/diagnostic imaging , Caregivers , Dementia/diagnosis , Demography , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/etiology , Hospitals , Hypertension/etiology , Interviews as Topic , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Surveys and Questionnaires , Registries , Republic of Korea , Risk Factors
20.
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