Lessons learnt from the field: a qualitative evaluation of adolescent experiences of a universal mental health education program.

teen Mental Health First Aid (teenMHFA) is a school-based mental health program that trains adolescents to support peers who are experiencing mental health problems or crises. The program has been evaluated for adolescents aged 15-18 years as part of a randomized controlled trial, however qualitative feedback from students on their perceptions of the program is yet to be explored. The current study describes the perspectives of students who took part in the trial. Feedback on the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the program was provided by 979 Year 10 students (M = 15.82 years, female = 43.94%, English as a first language = 72.77%) at four government funded public schools in Melbourne, Australia via online surveys. A content and thematic analysis was performed on the data using a six-step process. Students generally found the program relevant and they connected with the visual material, personal stories and interactive activities. Suggestions for improvements included encouraging active student participation in classroom discussion and providing opportunities to practice skills. School-based mental health education can benefit from input from stakeholder perspectives, particularly when designing mental health content for delivery by external trainers.

Australian adolescents' beliefs and help-seeking intentions towards peers experiencing symptoms of depression and alcohol misuse.

BACKGROUND: Many young people are reluctant to seek professional help for mental health problems, preferring to rely on their friends for support. It is therefore important to ensure that adolescents can identify signs of psychological distress in their peers, talk to them about these, and help them access appropriate services when necessary. The current study examined adolescents' ability to recognise symptoms of depression and alcohol misuse, perceived barriers to help-seeking, and their intentions to encourage a peer to seek help from a range of informal and formal help sources. METHOD: The current study used baseline data from a randomised controlled trial of a school-based intervention that teaches adolescents how to overcome barriers to accessing professional help for mental health and substance use problems (MAKINGtheLINK). Participants (n = 2456) were presented with two vignettes portraying depression and alcohol misuse, respectively, and were asked to identify the problems described. Participants provided data on their past help-seeking behaviour, confidence to help a peer, perceived barriers to help-seeking, and intentions to encourage a peer to seek help. RESULTS: Health professionals were the main source of help that participants had relied on for depressive symptoms, followed by friends and parents. In contrast, friends were the main source of help that participants had relied on for alcohol and other drug problems, followed by health professionals and parents. Just over half of the sample correctly identified the problems described in the two vignettes, although the majority of participants were confident that they could talk to a peer and help them seek professional help if needed. Most agreed that the vignettes described problems that warranted professional help, however approximately half the sample was unsure or considered it unlikely that they would seek help if they experienced similar problems. For both disorders, participants were most likely to encourage a peer to seek help from their family, followed by formal help sources and friends. CONCLUSIONS: While the results point towards a greater willingness to approach formal help sources, particularly for depression, peers remain an important source of support for young people experiencing mental health and substance use problems.

Discrimination and support from friends and family members experienced by people with mental health problems: findings from an Australian national survey.

PURPOSE: To investigate the scope and nature of discrimination and positive treatment experienced by adults with mental health problems from their friends and family in a population-based survey. METHODS: An Australian telephone-survey of 5220 adults included 1381 individuals who reported a mental health problem or scored high on a screening questionnaire. Respondents were interviewed about their experience of discrimination and positive treatment from their friends, spouse and other family members. Descriptions of experiences were content-analysed to identify key characteristics. RESULTS: Mental health diagnoses were primarily depression or anxiety disorders, and just over half had received treatment in the last 12 months. Positive treatment from family and friends was far more common than discrimination, reported by 74.1% of respondents. This was primarily characterised by providing emotional support and maintaining contact, as well as checking on their mental health and being a good listener. Nevertheless, discriminatory behaviours from friends and family were reported by 25.8% of respondents, with reducing or cutting contact being by far the most common. Friends and family also commonly dismissed that mental illness was real or caused suffering and showed a lack of understanding about mental health problems or treatments and how they can impact behaviour and functioning. CONCLUSIONS: This nationally representative study of real life experiences highlights the potential for harm or benefit from a person's social support network. Despite positive experiences being common, there is an ongoing need to reduce mental illness stigma and improve understanding of how to support a loved one with a mental health problem.

Development of guidelines for family and non-professional helpers on assisting an older person who is developing cognitive impairment or has dementia: a Delphi expert consensus study.

BACKGROUND: Assisting a person with dementia can lead to significant carer burden and possible negative outcomes for the person. Using the Delphi method, this study developed expert consensus guidelines for how family and non-professional carers should assist a person who is developing cognitive impairment, or has dementia or delirium. METHODS: A systematic search of websites, books and journal articles was conducted to develop a questionnaire containing items about the knowledge, skills and actions needed for assisting a person who is developing cognitive impairment, or has dementia or delirium. These items were rated over three rounds by two international expert panels comprising professionals specialising in research or treatment of dementia, and dementia carer advocates. RESULTS: A total of 65 participants (43 in the professional panel and 22 in the carer advocate panel) completed all three survey rounds. Of the 656 survey items that were rated, a total of 389 items were endorsed by at least 80 % of each panel. The endorsed items formed the basis of a guidelines document that explains what family and non-professional carers need to know and do when assisting a person who is developing cognitive impairment, or has dementia or delirium. CONCLUSIONS: The two groups of experts were able to reach substantial consensus on how to assist a person who is developing cognitive impairment, or has dementia or delirium.

Beliefs about dangerousness of people with mental health problems: the role of media reports and personal exposure to threat or harm.

PURPOSE: To assess the associations between beliefs about the dangerousness of people with mental health problems and exposure to media reports of violence or personal experiences of fear, threat or harm. METHODS: Telephone interviews were carried out with 5220 Australians aged 18+. Respondents heard a vignette of a person with depression or early schizophrenia and were asked whether they believed him to be dangerous. Other questions covered past 12-month recall of media reports of violence and mental health problems, contact with and experiences of fear, threat or harm by people with mental health problems. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the associations between beliefs about dangerousness and media and these types of contact with people with mental health problems. RESULTS: For the early schizophrenia vignette, recall of media reports and having felt afraid of someone were associated with beliefs about dangerousness. For the depression vignette, media reports about violence and mental health problems or the experiences of feeling afraid or having been threatened or harmed were not strongly associated with beliefs about dangerousness. For both vignettes, knowing someone with a mental health problem and having a higher level of education were associated with less belief in dangerousness. CONCLUSIONS: Media reports may play a greater role in forming attitudes in low prevalence disorders and further efforts to reduce any adverse impact of media reporting should focus on these disorders. The study also supports the effectiveness of contact with people with mental health problems in reducing beliefs about dangerousness.

Transition to a first suicide attempt among young and middle-aged males with a history of suicidal thoughts: A two-year cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Although many studies have examined the risk and protective factors associated with suicidal behavior, little is known about the probability of transition from suicidal thoughts to suicidal attempts and the factors that distinguish those who have suicidal thoughts from those who progress to a suicide attempt. OBJECTIVES: To determine the probability and predictors of transition to a suicide attempt among young and middle-aged males with a history of suicidal thoughts but no prior history of attempting suicide. METHODS: We used data from the first two waves of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health, approximately two years apart. We followed the cohort of males aged 18-55 years who, at wave 1, reported a lifetime history of suicidal ideation but no history of a prior suicide attempt. We report transition probabilities to a first suicide attempt at Wave 2 and used logistic regression models to examine baseline predictors of transition to a first suicide attempt over the two-year period among males aged 18 years and older. RESULTS: From the 1,564 males with suicidal thoughts at wave 1,140 participants (8.9%; 95% CI:7.6,10.5) reported to have had their first suicide attempt in the two-year period. In multivariate analyses, males aged 30-39 (OR=0.31; 95% CI: 0.16,0.60), 40-49 (OR=0.47; 95% CI:0.24,0.91) and 50-55 (OR=0.31; 95% CI: 0.13,0.73) all had lower odds of a first suicide attempt compared to males aged 18-29 years. The odds of a first suicide attempt were significantly higher for males who were: living in inner regional areas (ref: major cities) (OR=2.32; 95% CI: 1.33,4.04); homosexual or bisexual (OR=2.51; 95% CI: 1.17,5.36); working night shift as their main job (OR=1.75; 95% CI: 1.05,2.91); and, living with a disability (OR=1.99; 95% CI: 1.07,3.65). Clinical indicators such as symptoms of depression and illicit substance use were not significant predictors of transition to a first suicide attempt in multivariate models, nor were indicators of social connection. CONCLUSION: We estimated that 8.9% of Australian males aged 15-55 years with a history of suicidal thoughts and no prior history of suicide attempts will progress to a first suicide attempt within two-years. Neither psychological distress, illicit substance use nor social connection indicators were correlated with transition to a first suicide attempt. Rather, it was socio-demographic indicators that were associated with transition to a first suicide attempt.

Quality of information sources about mental disorders: a comparison of Wikipedia with centrally controlled web and printed sources.

BACKGROUND: Although mental health information on the internet is often of poor quality, relatively little is known about the quality of websites, such as Wikipedia, that involve participatory information sharing. The aim of this paper was to explore the quality of user-contributed mental health-related information on Wikipedia and compare this with centrally controlled information sources. METHOD: Content on 10 mental health-related topics was extracted from 14 frequently accessed websites (including Wikipedia) providing information about depression and schizophrenia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and a psychiatry textbook. The content was rated by experts according to the following criteria: accuracy, up-to-dateness, breadth of coverage, referencing and readability. RESULTS: Ratings varied significantly between resources according to topic. Across all topics, Wikipedia was the most highly rated in all domains except readability. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of information on depression and schizophrenia on Wikipedia is generally as good as, or better than, that provided by centrally controlled websites, Encyclopaedia Britannica and a psychiatry textbook.

Community beliefs about treatments and outcomes of mental disorders: a mental health literacy survey in a rural area of Maharashtra, India.

OBJECTIVES: Mental health remains a neglected issue in most developing countries, especially in rural areas where access to effective mental health services is limited. The integration of mental health into primary health care is being promoted as a strategy to address this problem. Consequently, there is an urgent need to enhance mental health awareness among communities, and to provide mental health training for primary healthcare staff. In order to do this effectively, it is important to understand and take account of local views on mental health and illness. As such, a mental health literacy (MHL) assessment was undertaken in a poor, rural area of Maharashtra, India to inform the development of a mental health training programme. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional MHL survey was undertaken in late 2007. METHODS: Data were collected from 240 systematically sampled community members and 60 purposively sampled village health workers (VHWs) using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Participants were presented with two vignettes describing people experiencing symptoms of mental disorders (depression, psychosis), and were asked to name the problems, and to identify the treatments and people that were most likely to be helpful (or otherwise), and the likely outcomes for people with such problems. RESULTS: Most participants recognized that the people in the vignettes were experiencing a mental health problem. 'Depression' was the most common label for the problems experienced in the depression vignette, and 'a mind/brain problem' was the most common label in the case of the psychosis vignette. Socio-economic interventions provided by family, friends and neighbours were considered to be most helpful. Local VHWs and doctors were also viewed as potentially helpful, but psychiatrists less so. Approximately half of the sample thought that dealing with the problem alone would be helpful. Special diets, tonics, appetite stimulants and sleeping pills were also strongly endorsed, but awareness of psychiatric medications was negligible. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study highlight the need to enhance MHL in this community. Additionally, there is a need to build the capacity of the primary healthcare staff, including the VHWs, so that they are equipped to provide an effective local response for people experiencing mental health problems.

Effect of community members' willingness to disclose a mental disorder on their psychiatric symptom scores: analysis of data from two randomised controlled trials of mental health first aid training.

AIMS: The prevalence of common mental disorders has not declined in high-income countries despite substantial increases in service provision. A possible reason for this lack of improvement is that greater willingness to disclose mental disorders might have led to increased reporting of psychiatric symptoms, thus masking reductions in prevalence. This masking hypothesis was tested using data from two trials of interventions that increased willingness to disclose and that also measured symptoms. Both interventions involved Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training, which is known to reduce stigma, including unwillingness to disclose a mental health problem. METHODS: A cross-lagged panel analysis was carried out on data from two large Australian randomised controlled trials of MHFA training. The first trial involved 1643 high school students in Year 10 (mean age 15.87 years), who were randomised to receive either teen MHFA training or physical first aid training as the control. The second trial involved 608 Australia public servants who were randomised to receive either eLearning MHFA, blended eLearning MHFA or eLearning physical first aid as the control. In both trials, willingness to disclose a mental disorder as described in vignettes and psychiatric symptoms (K6 scale) were measured pre-training, post-training and at 12-month follow-up. RESULTS: Both trials found that MHFA training increased willingness to disclose. However, a cross-lagged panel analysis showed no effect of this change on psychiatric symptom scores. CONCLUSIONS: Greater willingness to disclose did not affect psychiatric symptom scores. Because the trials increased willingness to disclose through a randomly assigned intervention, they provide a strong causal test of the masking hypothesis. It is therefore unlikely that changes in willingness to disclose are masking reductions in prevalence in the population.

The public's stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental disorders: how important are biomedical conceptualizations?

OBJECTIVE: This study examined hypotheses that stigmatizing attitudes are increased by use of psychiatric labels, by conceptualization of symptoms as a medical illness and by belief in genetic causes. METHOD: A survey of 3998 Australian adults asked questions about one of four vignettes: early schizophrenia, chronic schizophrenia, depression and depression with suicidal thoughts. Attitudes were measured by a social distance scale and a question about likely dangerousness. RESULTS: Social distance was unrelated to the hypothesized factors. For schizophrenia (but not depression), belief in dangerousness was predicted by medical illness conceptualizations and genetic causal attribution. However, more important factors were the behaviours in the vignette and the belief that they are because of weakness of character. CONCLUSION: Biomedical conceptualizations are not the major cause of stigma, rather it is the behaviour associated with mental illness and the belief that this is because of personal weakness.

Disclosure of mental health problems: findings from an Australian national survey.

AIMS: The aim of the current study was to carry out a national population-based survey to assess the proportion of people disclosing mental health problems in a variety of settings. A further aim was to explore respondent characteristics associated with disclosure. METHODS: In 2014, telephone interviews were carried out with 5220 Australians aged 18+, 1381 of whom reported a mental health problem or scored highly on a symptom screening questionnaire. Questions covered disclosure of mental health problems to friends, intimate partners, other family members, supervisors or other colleagues in the workplace, teachers, lecturers or other students in the educational institution, health professionals and others in the community. Other than for intimate partners or supervisors, participants were asked whether or not they told everybody, some people or no one. Multinomial logistic regression was used to model the correlates of disclosure in each setting. RESULTS: For friends and family, respondents were more likely to disclose to some people than to everyone or to no one. In most other domains, non-disclosure was most common, including in the workplace, where non-disclosure to supervisors was more likely than disclosure. Disclosure was associated with having received treatment or with support in all settings except healthcare, while it was only associated with discrimination in two settings (healthcare and education). CONCLUSIONS: Disclosure of mental health problems does not appear to be linked to discrimination in most settings, and is typically associated with receiving support. Selective or non-disclosure may be particularly critical in workplaces, education and healthcare settings.

The long-term mental health risk associated with non-heterosexual orientation.

AIMS: Findings that describe the mental health risk associated with non-heterosexual orientation in young and middle-aged adults are from cross-sectional designs or fail to discriminate homosexual and bisexual orientations. This study examines the mental health risk of homosexual and bisexual orientation over an 8-year period. METHODS: Participants were from the age-cohort study, the Personality and Total Health Through Life Project, were observed twice every 4 years, and aged 20-24 (n = 2353) and 40-44 (n = 2499) at baseline. RESULTS: Homosexual orientation was unrelated to long-term depression risk. Risk for anxiety and depression associated with homosexual and bisexual orientations, respectively, were attenuated in fully-adjusted models. Bisexual orientation risk associated with anxiety was partially attenuated in fully-adjusted models. CONCLUSIONS: Non-heterosexual orientation was not a major risk factor for long-term mental health outcomes. Instead, those with a non-heterosexual orientation were more likely to experience other mental health risk factors, which explain most of the risk observed amongst those with a non-heterosexual orientation.

Associations between plasma antioxidants and hypertension in a community-based sample of 415 Australians aged 60-64.

It has been suggested that increased oxidative stress may be both a cause as well as a consequence of hypertension. In vivo oxidation of low-density lipoproteins by oxygen-free radicals may increase hypertension-related atherogenesis, and antioxidants may be beneficial in this regard. Previous findings concerning associations between serum measures of antioxidants and hypertension have however been inconsistent. Plasma levels of beta-carotene, Vitamin A, E, uric acid, homocysteine and total antioxidant capacity, as well as two markers of oxidative stress, malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyls, were measured in morning fasting blood samples provided by 415 Australians aged 60-64 years, selected randomly from the community. Participants also provided information on sociodemographic attributes, mental and physical health, and provided two measures of resting blood pressure, allowing a diagnosis of definite or borderline hypertension. Those with hypertension had lower levels of beta-carotene and higher levels of uric acid and MDA compared to normotensive participants. The last two of these associations persisted when the analyses controlled for lifestyle and health factors. The findings from this study offer limited support for the proposition that lower antioxidant status and higher oxidative stress are associated with hypertension, and suggest the need for longitudinal studies to examine causality and intervention studies to determine the benefit of antioxidants in this group.

Is the use of accurate psychiatric labels associated with intentions and beliefs about responses to mental illness in a friend? Findings from two national surveys of Australian youth.

Aims. An inherent prerequisite to mental health first-aid (MHFA) is the ability to identify that there is a mental health problem, but little is known about the association between psychiatric labelling and MHFA. This study examined this association using data from two national surveys of Australian young people. Methods. This study involved a national telephonic survey of 3746 Australian youth aged 12-25 years in 2006, and a similar survey in 2011 with 3021 youth aged 15-25 years. In both surveys, respondents were presented with a vignette portraying depression, psychosis or social phobia in a young person. The 2011 survey also included depression with suicidal thoughts and post-traumatic stress disorder. Respondents were asked what they thought was wrong with the person, and reported on their first-aid intentions and beliefs, which were scored for quality of the responses. Results. Accurate labelling of the mental disorder was associated with more helpful first-aid intentions and beliefs across vignettes, except for the intention to listen non-judgementally in the psychosis vignette. Conclusions. Findings suggest that community education programmes that improve accurate psychiatric label use may have the potential to improve the first-aid responses young people provide to their peers, although caution is required in the case of psychosis.

Transitions Study of predictors of illness progression in young people with mental ill health: study methodology.

AIM: An estimated 75% of mental disorders begin before the age of 24 and approximately 25% of 13-24-year-olds are affected by mental disorders at any one time. To better understand and ideally prevent the onset of post-pubertal mental disorders, a clinical staging model has been proposed that provides a longitudinal perspective of illness development. This heuristic model takes account of the differential effects of both genetic and environmental risk factors, as well as markers relevant to the stage of illness, course or prognosis. The aim of the Transitions Study is to test empirically the assumptions that underpin the clinical staging model. Additionally, it will permit investigation of a range of psychological, social and genetic markers in terms of their capacity to define current clinical stage or predict transition from less severe or enduring to more severe and persistent stages of mental disorder. METHOD: This paper describes the study methodology, which involves a longitudinal cohort design implemented within four headspace youth mental health services in Australia. Participants are young people aged 12-25 years who have sought help at headspace and consented to complete a comprehensive assessment of clinical state and psychosocial risk factors. A total of 802 young people (66% female) completed baseline assessments. Annual follow-up assessments have commenced. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study may have implications for the way mental disorders are diagnosed and treated, and progress our understanding of the pathophysiologies of complex mental disorders by identifying genetic or psychosocial markers of illness stage or progression.

Association of age, sex, cognitive dysfunction, and disability with major depressive symptoms in an elderly sample.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have yielded conflicting results regarding the association of age, sex, and cognitive deficit with depression in the elderly. However, there is agreement about a relationship between depressive symptoms and disability. The authors previously conducted a factor analysis of the symptoms of major depression in elderly subjects and found that the symptoms clustered into factors of mood disturbance and motivation disturbance. The aim of the present study was to replicate these findings in a larger population sample and relate some of the variables possibly associated with depression to these two factors. METHOD: A population sample of 1,304 persons aged 75 years or older registered in a parish of Stockholm were examined by physicians to determine DSM-III-R depressive symptoms and disability in activities of daily living. The Mini-Mental State examination was also performed. RESULTS: Factor analysis showed factors of mood and motivation symptoms, and these were related differently to the associated variables. When the other associated variables were controlled for, age was unrelated to both types of symptoms. Women had more mood disturbance, but men had slightly more motivation disturbance. As cognitive function declined, mood disturbance first increased, then decreased. Motivation symptoms increased sharply with decreasing cognitive function. A relationship was found between increasing disability and both the mood and motivation symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: In the elderly, symptoms of depression involve either mood or motivation disturbance and the two types of symptoms are associated with different variables.

Application of DSM-III-R criteria for major depressive episode to elderly subjects with and without dementia.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to see how DSM-III-R criteria for a major depressive episode functioned in a representative sample of elderly subjects with and without dementia. METHOD: Data were used from a population-based study of individuals 75 years old or older living in Stockholm. Subjects were screened for dementia by using the Mini-Mental State. Subjects with scores of 23 or lower as well as age- and sex-matched subjects with scores of 24 or higher were given a medical examination. Dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-III-R and staged for severity by using the Washington University Clinical Dementia Rating Scale. The Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale was used to record symptoms of depression, which were then classified according to DSM-III-R criteria for a major depressive episode. Data on depressive symptoms were available for 643 individuals: 213 with and 430 without dementia. A principal component analysis was carried out on the nine symptoms from criterion. A for a major depressive episode. RESULTS: The depressive symptoms clustered into two groups: mood disturbance and motivation disturbance. The mood disturbance symptoms were most frequent in subjects with mild dementia and less frequent in those with more severe dementia; the subjects with the most severe dementia had the highest rates of motivation disturbance symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The different manifestations of depression in elderly patients with and without dementia should be taken into account when making the diagnosis of major depression. Further research is needed on the manifestations of depressive symptoms in the elderly in order to validate the diagnostic criteria.

Differential diagnosis in dementia. Principal components analysis of clinical data from a population survey.

OBJECTIVE: To reduce all the clinical data, collected from an unselected group of subjects, to a small set of factors and to see how these factors correspond to standard clinical diagnosis of dementing disorders. DESIGN: Population survey. SETTING: General community: elderly older than 74 years, from an area in Stockholm, Sweden. SUBJECTS: Population-based sample including (1) all the screened positive subjects using the Mini-Mental State examination; and (2) a random sample of the screened negative subjects, matched by age and sex. A clinical examination and an informant interview were carried out. Cases were identified using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Third Edition diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Independently from the clinical diagnosis, a principal components factor analysis was carried out to investigate groupings among the clinical data (factors). Factor scores, calculated as a weighted sum of the symptom variables and converted to a standard score form. RESULTS: Four major factors were found: cognitive impairment, cerebrovascular disease, disturbed behavior, and depressive symptoms. The comparison of these factors with the clinical diagnoses showed that (1) the cognitive impairment factor discriminated demented cases from nondemented; (2) the cerebrovascular disease factor discriminated vascular dementia from AD cases and nondemented; (3) the disturbed behavior factor discriminated AD cases from vascular dementia cases and nondemented, indicating behavioral changes characteristic of AD. CONCLUSIONS: This finding, if replicated, would have implications for the construction of diagnostic criteria for AD.

A comparison of alternative methods of screening for dementia in clinical settings.

OBJECTIVE: To compare 3 approaches to screening for dementia: cognitive testing, informant report, and neurovisual assessment in a clinical environment. SETTING: A university hospital in Geneva, Switzerland. PATIENTS: Subjects were 76 patients admitted to the Geriatric Hospital or outpatients assessed at the Memory Clinic of the Hospitals of the University of Geneva School of Medicine in Geneva, Switzerland. Thirty-three met criteria for dementia and 11 for depression based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Performance in French-language versions of the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly, and the Clinical Antisaccadic Eye Movement Test. RESULTS: All tests significantly discriminated cases of dementia from noncases. The receiver operator characteristic analysis demonstrated that the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly were more efficient screening measures for dementia than the Antisaccadic Eye Movement Test in this setting. Unlike the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly was unrelated to patients' educational attainment or premorbid intelligence. The previously reported strong relationship between the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Antisaccadic Eye Movement Test was not replicated in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: Both cognitive testing and informant report are efficient methods of screening for dementia in clinical settings. Factors such as sensorimotor disability or informant availability may dictate the viability of each approach in individual application. The performance of the Antisaccadic Eye Movement Test precludes recommending its use as a screen for dementia without further research into its performance.

The incidence of dementia: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a meta-analysis of the age-specific incidence of all dementias, including AD and vascular dementia. BACKGROUND: Several meta-analyses have been carried out on dementia prevalence, but none on its incidence. METHODS: We used loess-curve fitting to analyze data from 23 published studies reporting age-specific incidence data. RESULTS: The incidence of both dementia and AD rose exponentially up to the age of 90 years, with no sign of leveling off. The incidence rates for vascular dementia varied greatly from study to study, but the trend was also for an exponential rise with age. There was no sex difference in dementia incidence (p = 0.21), but women tended to have a higher incidence of AD in very old age, and men tended to have a higher incidence of vascular dementia at younger ages. East Asian countries had a lower incidence of dementia than Europe (p = 0.0004), and also tended to have a lower incidence of AD. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of dementia rises exponentially to the age of 90 years. Any sex differences are small, and incidence is lower in East Asia than in Europe.