Roles of Education and IQ in Cognitive Reserve in Parkinson's Disease-Mild Cognitive Impairment.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The role of cognitive reserve in Parkinson's disease (PD)-mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is incompletely understood. METHODS: The relationships between PD-MCI, years of education, and estimated premorbid IQ were examined in 119 consecutive non-demented PD patients using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Higher education and IQ were associated with reduced odds of PD-MCI in univariate analysis. In multivariable analysis, a higher IQ was associated with a significantly decreased odds of PD-MCI, but education was not. CONCLUSION: The association of higher IQ and decreased odds of PD-MCI supports a role for cognitive reserve in PD, but further studies are needed to clarify the interaction of IQ and education and the impact of other contributors such as employment and hobbies.

The vascular depression hypothesis: the influence of age on the relationship between cerebrovascular risk factors and depressive symptoms in community dwelling elders.

The current study examined the moderating effect of age on the relationship between cerebrovascular risk factors (CVRF's) and depressive symptoms. Consistent with the broader vascular depression model, it was hypothesized that CVRF's would demonstrate a stronger link to depressive symptoms in the older age groups than among the younger age groups. Data from 2916 adults from the Resources, Stress, and Older Persons Panel Study were utilized. Path analysis was used to estimate direct and indirect effects (via health related symptoms and limitations) of CVRF's on depressive symptoms. Path analyses were estimated separately on four age groups: 50-64 years old, 65-74 years old, 75-84 years old, and 85 years and older. CVRF's and other comorbid medical conditions were highly predictive of health related symptoms and limitations across the four age groups. Health related symptoms and limitations were strongly linked to depressive symptoms and mediated the influence of medical illnesses (both vascular and nonvascular) on depressive symptoms. However, CVRF's exerted a unique effect on depressive symptoms in the oldest-old group (i.e., 85+). Among those over the age of 85, a greater number of CVRF's was associated with more severe depressive symptoms independent of health related symptoms/limitations and other comorbid medical conditions. Health related symptoms and limitations mediated the relationship between CVRF's and depression in individuals under 85. That is, the influence of vascular burden on depression is predominately indirect via health related limitations. But among those over the age of 85, vascular disease had a unique contribution on depression, even after controlling for other comorbid medical illness and health related limitations. This finding supports the vascular depression hypothesis and is consistent with prior work suggesting vascular disease may exert its greatest effect on depression in the context of increasing frailty.

Depression, cognitive impairment and function in Alzheimer's disease.

Depression is very common in patients with dementia but the relationship is very complex. Depression is regarded as a cause of excess disability in persons with dementia and contributes to their functional decline. The assessment of depression in dementia patients, however, has been difficult in that the validity of self-reported depression in patients with dementia has been questioned. This study was done to investigate whether self-reported depression by persons with dementia (using the GDS) is related to their functional abilities as rated by a family caregiver (using the IADL scale) above and beyond demographic variables. This study was conducted at the Detroit Satellite of the Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. There were 141 participants, 67% were African American and 33% were European American. Statistical analyses included a correlational and multiple regression approach to determine the predictive relationships of cognitive and depressive symptoms above and beyond the influence of demographic variables and cognition. The results of the study further support the notion that depression in dementia is significantly related to functional decline but, more importantly, that self-reported depression in patients with dementia can be valuable information in understanding patients' functioning.

Effective screening for Alzheimer's disease among older African Americans.

Relatively little data exist concerning the utility of brief cognitive measures to detect dementia among African Americans. The current study evaluated the clinical utility of the Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE) and the Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME) in detecting Alzheimer's disease (AD) among both African American and European American older adults. One hundred and forty geriatric patients from a large urban academic medical center were examined. Overall, the FOME appeared to be more effective in detecting AD than was the MMSE (93% sensitivity vs. 75% sensitivity, respectively), although both measures suffered from relatively low specificity (63.5) in the full sample. The FOME demonstrated exceptional clinical utility among African American patients (sensitivity 98.3%; specificity = 64.5; positive predictive power 83.8%; negative predictive power 95.2%). The results of this study support the use of the FOME among older African Americans to detect dementia.

Environmental press and adaptation to disability in hospitalized live-alone older adults.

PURPOSE: This study examined the ability of personal competency variables at the time of hospital discharge to predict primary instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and secondary outcomes (living arrangements) in a sample of 194 urban, live-alone, older adults who had a new onset disability. DESIGN AND METHODS: Consecutively admitted medical rehabilitation patients, 72% women and 85% African American, participated in the study. Using path analysis, three of the four competency variables collected at the time of hospitalization (cognition, medical burden, activities of daily living) predicted IADLs at 3 and 6 months after hospitalization (e.g., cooking, telephone use, money management). IADLs, in turn, predicted living arrangements at 3 and at 6 months after hospitalization. RESULTS: The findings provided strong support for the importance of assessing a broad range of competency variables when investigating adaptation to disability. IMPLICATIONS: The increased understanding of adaptation in live-alone older adults with a new-onset disability is particularly timely given the increase in live-alone older adults and the dire consequences associated with change in living arrangement (i.e., mortality and morbidity) in this group.

Clinical utility of the Normative Studies Research Project test battery among vascular dementia patients.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the clinical utility of the Normative Studies Research Project test battery for detecting dementia with a known vascular component. The study compared 65 patients who had both suffered a stroke and met the DSM-IV criteria for dementia with 86 older medical patients who were cognitively intact. Multivariate analysis of covariance results demonstrated that these two groups had significantly different means on tests within the battery even after controlling for the influence of demographic variables. Logistic regression results demonstrated positive predictive value of 81.36%, negative predictive value of 85. 23%, and an overall correct classification rate of 83.67%.

Geropsychological problems in medical rehabilitation: dementia and depression among stroke and lower extremity fracture patients.

BACKGROUND: Although stroke and lower extremity fracture are often viewed as distinct medical rehabilitation conditions, they share similarities in that they are both experienced primarily among older adults, and are often accompanied by gero-psychological problems such as dementia and depression. In spite of these similarities, actual comparisons of these prevalence rates have been rare in the previous literature, most likely due to obvious differences in the nature of the injuries involved (neurological vs. peripheral injury). METHODS: One hundred and one stroke and 198 lower extremity fracture patients were assessed with neuropsychological tests from the Normative Studies Research Project test battery. The prevalence rates of dementia and depression were then compared between these two patient groups. RESULTS: Overall, 34.7% of stroke and 27.8% of lower extremity fracture patients met the criteria for dementia. In addition, 33.3% of stroke and 25.1% of lower extremity fracture patients scored in the depressed range on the Geriatric Depression Scale. The prevalence rates for dementia and depression did not differ significantly between these two patient groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although rehabilitation efforts focus mainly upon the primary diagnoses of geriatric patients, these findings suggest that stroke and lower extremity fracture should be considered within the context of the geriatric issues (e.g., dementia, depression, and comorbid medical illness) which accompany them.