Effects of radiotherapy on cognitive function in patients with low-grade glioma measured by the folstein mini-mental state examination. The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale: Evaluation of Psychometric Properties and Patterns of Cognitive Decline in Multicenter Clinical Trials of Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease Malnutrition and cognitive impairment among people 60 years of age and above living in regular housing and in special housing in Sweden: a population-based cohort study. Prevalence and Causes of Blindness and Low Vision in Southern Sudan Mini Nutritional Assessment of rural elderly people in Bangladesh: the impact of demographic, socio-economic and health factors. The effects of age, glucose ingestion and gluco-regulatory control on episodic memory.
PURPOSE To assess the neurocognitive effects of cranial radiotherapy on patients with low- grade gliomas , we analyzed cognitive performance data collected in a prospect i ve , intergroup clinical trial . METHODS Patients included 203 adults with supratentorial low- grade gliomas r and omly assigned to a lower dose ( 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions ) or a higher dose ( 64.8 Gy in 36 fractions ) of localized radiotherapy . Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination ( MMSE ) scores and neurologic function scores ( NFS ) at baseline and key evaluations were analyzed . Median follow-up was 7.4 years in 101 patients still alive . A change of more than three MMSE points was considered clinical ly significant . RESULTS In patients without tumor progression , significant deterioration from baseline occurred at years 1 , 2 , and 5 in 8.2 % , 4.6 % , and 5.3 % of patients , respectively . Most patients with an abnormal baseline MMSE score ( < 27 ) experienced significant increases . Baseline variables such as radiation dose , conformal versus conventional radiotherapy , number of radiation fields , age , sex , tumor size , NFS , seizures , and seizure medications did not predict cognitive function changes . CONCLUSION In this population , most low- grade glioma patients maintained a stable neurocognitive status after focal radiotherapy as measured by the MMSE . Patients with an abnormal baseline MMSE were more likely to have an improvement in cognitive abilities than deterioration after receiving radiotherapy . Only a small percentage of patients had cognitive deterioration after radiotherapy . However , more discriminating neurocognitive assessment tools may identify cognitive decline not apparent with the use of the MMSE Purpose To evaluate the psychometric properties and patterns of decline on the total score and item scores of the cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer 's Disease Assessment Scale ( ADAS-Cog ) in patients with Alzheimer Disease ( AD ) . Methods We analyzed data from 536 AD out patients r and omized to the  placebo group in two identical 26-week multicenter drug trials . Results Mean deterioration at week 26 on the ADAS-Cog total score for subjects with moderate dementia was 84 % greater than that for those with milder severity ( p < 0.001 ) . After adjusting for this effect , age ( p = 0.015 ) and educational level ( p = 0.01 ) also predicted cognitive decline . In a model , absolute change for most individual ADAS items was less than 10 % of the possible change , and it was generally smaller than one-third of the st and ard deviation of the measure . Measurement error variability was greatest for word recognition and the “ placebo ” effect was greatest for word recall . Variability increased with trial duration in a model . Conclusions There is a relationship between baseline severity and magnitude of cognitive decline . In 6-month trials , measurement error makes a substantial contribution to the variance in ADAS-Cog change scores . Sensitivity to intervention effects will therefore depend both on the variability and magnitude of change . Such data must be considered when design ing future trials to minimize measurement error variability and increase sensitivity for specific population BACKGROUND Malnutrition is a common problem among older people and associated with reduced functional and cognitive ability . Furthermore , malnutrition among people living in special housing , i.e. in nursing homes or sheltered accommodation , appears to be more common than among those living in regular housing , i.e. in their own homes . However , it is still unclear if the relationship between malnutrition and impaired cognitive ability is connected to living arrangement , i.e. if the relationship is stronger among those who live alone compared to those who cohabit in regular housing . OBJECTIVES The purpose with the present study was to describe the relationship between nutritional status and cognitive ability among people 60 years of age and above in Sweden , with a focus on housing and living arrangement .  DESIGN Population -based cohort study . SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS The study focused on people living in regular or in special housing and comprised 1,402 r and omly selected individuals ( 60 - 96 years of age ) who lived in one municipality in south-eastern Sweden and participated in SNAC-B ( the Swedish study on Aging and Care - Blekinge ) , 2001 - 2003 . METHODS Data regarding demography , nutrition and functional and cognitive ability were collected through question naires , medical examinations and structured interviews . RESULTS The relationship was the strongest between cognitive ability and nutritional status among those living in special housing . Regardless of housing and living arrangement , older people with a moderate or severe cognitive impairment risked ( OR 2.59 - 16.00 ) being malnourished , irrespective of functional ability . CONCLUSION This study highlights that those with a moderate and severe cognitive impairment suffer a risk of developing malnutrition , irrespective of living and housing arrangement . The findings suggest that nurses in the social service and health care system need to consider changes in weight and nutritional intake as well as the individual needs of older people with cognitive impairment to avoid malnutrition Background Blindness and low vision are thought to be common in southern Sudan . However , the magnitude and geographical distribution are largely unknown . We aim ed to estimate the prevalence of blindness and low vision , identify the main causes of blindness and low vision , and estimate targets for blindness prevention programs in Mankien payam ( district ) , southern Sudan . Methods and Findings A cross-sectional survey of the population aged 5 y and above was conducted in May 2005 using a two-stage cluster r and om sampling with probability proportional to size . The Snellen E chart was used to test visual acuity , and participants also underwent basic eye examination . Vision status was defined using World Health Organization categories of visual impairment based on presenting visual acuity ( VA ) . A total of 2,954 persons were enumerated and 2,499 ( 84.6 % ) examined .  Prevalence of blindness ( presenting VA of less than 3/60 in the better eye ) was 4.1 % ( 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , 3.4–4.8 ) ; prevalence of low vision ( presenting VA of at least 3/60 but less than 18/60 in the better eye ) was 7.7 % ( 95 % CI , 6.7–8.7 ) ; whereas prevalence of monocular visual impairment ( presenting VA of at least 18/60 in better eye and VA of less than 18/60 in other eye ) was 4.4 % ( 95 % CI , 3.6–5.3 ) . The main causes of blindness were considered to be cataract ( 41.2 % ) and trachoma ( 35.3 % ) , whereas low vision was mainly caused by trachoma ( 58.1 % ) and cataract ( 29.3 % ) . It is estimated that in Mankien payam 1,154 persons aged 5 y and above ( lower and upper bounds = 782–1,799 ) are blind , and 2,291 persons ( lower and upper bounds = 1,820–2,898 ) have low vision . Conclusions Blindness is a serious public health problem in Mankien , and there is urgent need to implement comprehensive blindness prevention programs . Further surveys are essential to confirm these tragic findings and estimate prevalence of blindness and low vision in the entire region of southern Sudan in order to facilitate planning of VISION 2020 objectives OBJECTIVE In stating the Millennium Development Goals , the United Nations aims to halve malnutrition around the world by 2015 . Nutritional status of the elderly population in low-income countries is seldom focused upon . The present study aim ed to evaluate the magnitude of malnutrition among an elderly population in rural Bangladesh . DESIGN AND SETTING Data collection for a multidimensional cross-sectional study of community-based elderly people aged 60 years and over was conducted in a rural area in Bangladesh . SUBJECTS Of 850 r and omly selected elderly individuals , 625 participated in home interviews .  Complete nutritional information was available for 457 individuals ( mean age 69+/-8 years , 55 % female ) .  Nutritional status was assessed using an adapted form of the  Mini Nutritional Assessment ( MNA ) including body mass index ( BMI ) . Age , sex , education , household expenditure on food and self-reported health problems were investigated as potential predictors of nutritional status . RESULTS BMI < 18.5 kg m(-2 ) , indicating chronic energy deficiency , was found in 50 % of the population . MNA revealed a prevalence of 26 % for protein-energy malnutrition and 62 % for risk of malnutrition . Health problems rather than age had a negative impact on nutritional status . Level of education and food expenditure were directly associated with nutritional status . CONCLUSION In order to reduce world hunger by half in the coming decade , it is important to recognise that a substantial proportion of the elderly population , particularly in low-income countries , is undernourished BACKGROUND Previous research has been inconclusive regarding the impact of glucose ingestion and gluco-regulatory control on cognitive performance in healthy older adults . The aim of this research was to determine whether glucose specifically enhanced episodic memory in an older population . In addition , the link between individual differences in glucose regulation and the magnitude of the enhancement effect was examined . DESIGN AND SUBJECTS A within subjects , counterbalanced , crossover design was used with 20 participants ( 60 - 80 year olds ) , each serving as his/her control . METHODS Episodic memory was tested by presenting unrelated paired associates followed by immediate and delayed cued recall , and delayed recognition , under single and dual task conditions . In addition , a battery of cognitive tests was administered , including tests of semantic memory , working memory and speed of processing . RESULTS Glucose ingestion was found to largely facilitate performance of episodic memory . Furthermore , subsidiary analyses found that gluco-regulatory efficiency predicted episodic memory performance in both control and glucose conditions . CONCLUSIONS A boost in performance after glucose ingestion was particularly seen in the episodic memory domain . Notably , strong evidence was provided for the utility of gluco-regulatory control measures as indicators of cognitive decline in the elderly
The results showed that cognitive decline is strongly associated with frailty , being a probable main clinical outcome .
In this sense , any strategy aim ed at mitigating or reversing the incidence of frailty with ageing should take into account that physical and cognitive frailty seem to have similar temporal trajectories
The purpose of present study was to analyze the magnitude of the effect-size in the assessment of the cognitive status of population s over 60 years of age .