The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Dec 2010
Anosognosia in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease: frequency and neuropsychological correlates.
To evaluate severity of anosognosia and to identify its neuropsychological correlates in preclinical and clinical Alzheimer's Disease (AD). ⋯ The diagnosis of anosognosia is frequent in patients with mild AD but not in those with MCI. In the latter case, the authors cannot speak of true anosognosia but only of decreased awareness of illness. Furthermore, reduced awareness of cognitive difficulties is linked with verbal memory performances in patients with MCI but not in those with AD, suggesting for the latter the involvement of factors other than neuropsychological. Thus, neuropsychiatric dimensions commonly present in patients with AD should be investigated along with anosognosia.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Nov 2010
Comparative StudyDepression among older adults in the United States and England.
Depression negatively affects health and well being among older adults, but there have been no nationally representative comparisons of depression prevalence among older adults in England and the United States. ⋯ Older adults in the United States had lower rates of depressive symptoms than their English counterparts despite having more chronic health conditions. Future cross-national studies should identify how depression treatment influences outcomes in these populations.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Oct 2010
Caregiver burden in Alzheimer disease: cross-sectional and longitudinal patient correlates.
Alzheimer disease (AD) imposes a severe burden on patients and their caregivers. Although there is substantial evidence of the adverse impact of burden, considerably less is known about its specific correlates and potential causes. ⋯ Severity of psychiatric symptoms, behavioral disturbances, and patients' quality of life are the main correlates of caregivers' experience burden. Psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions targeting these two aspects of the disorder are likely to not only alleviate patient suffering but also promote caregiver well-being.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Sep 2010
Meta AnalysisScreening and case-finding tools for the detection of dementia. Part II: evidence-based meta-analysis of single-domain tests.
To evaluate the diagnostic validity of single-domain cognitive tests for detecting dementia. These methods were defined as those that focus mainly on one domain of cognitive function such as orientation, memory, or executive function. ⋯ Brief single-domain methods offer diagnostic performance for detection of dementia that is surprisingly close to that offered by cognitive batteries such as the MMSE. As a method of screening or as part of a diagnostic algorithm, brief single-domain tests may be an efficient first step in identifying cognitive impairment.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Sep 2010
Total scores of the CERAD neuropsychological assessment battery: validation for mild cognitive impairment and dementia patients with diverse etiologies.
This study aimed to validate the two total scores (TS-I and TS-II) of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer Disease neuropsychological battery (CERAD-NP) for a large elderly population including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia patients with various etiologic backgrounds. The authors also investigated whether the addition of frontal-executive function score can improve the discrimination accuracy of the total scores for dementia and MCI. ⋯ These results strongly support the validity and usefulness of CERAD total scores for early detection and progression monitoring of MCI and dementia in clinical and research settings.