The risks of polypharmacy can be far greater than the benefits, especially in the elderly. Comorbidity makes polypharmacy very prevalent in this population; thus, increasing the occurrence of adverse effects. To solve this problem, the most common strategy is to use lists of potentially inappropriate medications. However, this strategy is time consuming.

In order to minimize the expenditure of time, our group devised a pilot computer tool (Polimedication) that automatically processes lists of medication providing the corresponding Screening Tool of Older Persons’ potentially inappropriate Prescriptions alerts and facilitating standardized reports. The drug lists for 115 residents in Santa Marta Nursing Home (Fundación San Rosendo, Ourense, Spain) were processed.

The program detected 10.04 alerts/patient, of which 74.29% were not repeated. After reviewing these alerts, 12.12% of the total (1.30 alerts/patient) were considered relevant. The largest number of alerts (41.48%) involved neuroleptic drugs. Finally, the patient's family physician or psychiatrist accepted the alert and made medication changes in 62.86% of the relevant alerts. The largest number of changes (38.64%) also involved neuroleptic drugs. The mean time spent in the generation and review of the warnings was 6.26 minute/patient. Total changes represented a saving of 32.77 € per resident/year in medication.

The application of Polimedication tool detected a high proportion of potentially inappropriate prescriptions in institutionalized elderly patients. The use of the computerized tool achieved significant savings in pharmaceutical expenditure, as well as a reduction in the time taken for medication review.

Insomnia symptoms are common among old people, and hypnotics and sedative drugs are often prescribed in spite of small benefits. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of insomnia symptoms and to analyze the association between insomnia symptoms, cognitive level, and prescription of hypnotics and sedatives among old people living in nursing homes.

The study comprised 2,135 people living in nursing homes in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden. Data concerning hypnotic and sedative drugs, cognitive function, and prevalence of insomnia symptoms were collected, using the Multi-Dimensional Dementia Assessment Scale (MDDAS).

The three most common insomnia symptoms were “sleeps for long periods during the day,” “interrupted night-time sleep,” and “wakes up early in the morning” with 57.8%, 56.4%, and 48.0%, respectively, of the residents exhibiting the symptoms at least once a week. Different insomnia symptoms showed different association patterns with sex and age. Most insomnia symptoms were more common among people with cognitive impairment compared to those with no cognitive impairment and seemed to reach their peak prevalence in people with moderate to severe cognitive impairment, subsequently decreasing with further cognitive decline. Of the study population, 24.0% were prescribed hypnotics and sedatives. Prescriptions were more common among those without cognitive impairment, and among those exhibiting the symptom “difficulty initiating sleep.”

Insomnia symptoms and prescription of hypnotics and sedatives are common among old people living in nursing homes. Considering the risk of adverse effects, it is important to regularly re-evaluate the need for these drugs.

Over two-thirds of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients experience comorbid neuropsychiatric symptoms, which adversely impact their quality of life and often require intervention. There is a preference for non-pharmacological, psychological approaches in addressing these symptoms. Given mobility limitations, travel burden, and cost, accessibility to psychological treatment can be problematic in this population. There has been a recent shift toward delivering care via telehealth in PD. Accordingly, this review aimed to examine remotely delivered psychological interventions for PD patients.

Most of the telehealth studies for PD involved Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) based anxiety and depression telephone interventions with relatively short (one month) follow-up periods.

Although a preliminary work indicates efficacy, future studies should demonstrate the non-inferiority of these telehealth programs compared to face-to-face delivery, and examine the long-term outcomes of remotely delivered therapy. Video-conferencing (VC) appears to be a promising modality to overcome noted limitations of telephone delivery, and has demonstrated efficacy for PD speech programs. Further research should be conducted evaluating telehealth VC modalities for delivery of psychotherapy including CBT, as well as mindfulness-based therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy for remote treatment of depression and anxiety in PD.

Access to social support contributes to feelings of independence and better social health. This qualitative study aims to investigate multi-informant perspectives on informal social support in dementia care networks.

Ten spousal caregivers of people with dementia (PwD) completed an ecogram, a social network card and a semi-structured interview. The ecogram aimed to trigger subjective experiences regarding social support. Subsequently, 17 network members were interviewed. The qualitative analyses identified codes, categories, and themes.

Sixth themes emerged: (1) barriers to ask for support; (2) facilitators to ask for support; (3) barriers to offer support; (4) facilitators to offer support; (5) a mismatch between supply and demand of social support; and (6) openness in communication to repair the imbalance.

Integrating social network perspectives resulted in a novel model identifying a mismatch between the supply and demand of social support, strengthened by a cognitive bias: caregivers reported to think for other social network members and vice versa. Openness in communication in formal and informal care systems might repair this mismatch.

Longitudinal studies of older adults are characterized by high dropout rates, multimorbid conditions, and multiple medication use, especially proximal to death. We studied the association between multiple medication use and incident dementia diagnoses including Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD), and Lewy-body dementia (LBD), simultaneously accounting for dropout.

Using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center data with three years of follow-up, a set of covariate-adjusted models that ignore dropout was fit to complete-case data, and to the whole-cohort data. Additionally, covariate-adjusted joint models with shared random effects accounting for dropout were fit to the whole-cohort data. Multiple medication use was defined as polypharmacy (⩾ five medications), hyperpolypharmacy (⩾ ten medications), and total number of medications.

Incident diagnoses were 2,032 for AD, 135 for VD, and 139 for LBD. Percentages of dropout at the end of follow-up were as follows: 71.8% for AD, 81.5% for VD, and 77.7% for LBD. The odds ratio (OR) estimate for hyperpolypharmacy among those with LBD versus AD was 2.19 (0.78, 6.15) when estimated using complete-case data and 3.00 (1.66, 5.40) using whole-cohort data. The OR reduced to 1.41 (0.76, 2.64) when estimated from the joint model accounting for dropout. The OR for polypharmacy using complete-case data differed from the estimates using whole-cohort data. The OR for dementia diagnoses on total number of medications was similar, but non-significant when estimated using complete-case data.

Reasons for dropout should be investigated and appropriate statistical methods should be applied to reduce bias in longitudinal studies among high-risk dementia cohorts.

The vision for dementia-friendly communities is challenged by limited public awareness and stigma about dementia. The study aim was to elicit stakeholder priorities for the message content of an education program to improve dementia awareness among youth; specifically, what do children need to know about dementia?

A qualitative inquiry using interviews and focus groups was used. Purposive sampling achieved maximum variation in dementia experience and participant characteristics. Focus groups with Scouts in the community aged 9–12 years old (n = 22) used innovative techniques to explore children's attitudes towards people with dementia. Participants with personal experience of dementia were five people with early-stage dementia; 12 adult primary carers; four non-primary carers; and six grandchildren of a person with dementia. They were asked what is important for children to understand about dementia and what attitudes they may like an education program to confer. Content analysis was performed using NVivo10.

Strong themes to emerge were that children need to know the whole truth about dementia; that individuals with dementia are “still people,” that it is “not the fault” of the person with dementia; and that dementia is different and typically unpredictable for everyone. Discussions also indicated a need to educate children about ways to relate to a person with dementia, and to appreciate “positives” within a relationship.

Children are our future citizens. Developing an education program for children with this message content may be fundamental to de-stigmatizing dementia and laying the foundation to dementia-friendly communities.

The aim of this study was to update the literature on interventions for carers of people with dementia published between 2006 and 2016 and evaluate the efficacy of psychoeducational programs and psychotherapeutic interventions on key mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, burden, and quality of life).

A meta-analysis was carried out of randomized controlled trials of carer interventions using MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials.

The majority of studies were conducted in Western and Southern Europe or the United States and recruited carers of people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia grouped as a whole. The most commonly used outcome measures were depression and burden across studies. The updated evidence suggested that psychoeducation-skill building interventions delivered face-to-face can better impact on burden. Psychotherapeutic interventions underpinned by Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) models demonstrated strong empirical support for treating anxiety and depression and these effects were not affected by the mode of delivery (i.e. face-to-face vs. technology). A modern CBT approach, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), seemed to be particularly beneficial for carers experiencing high levels of anxiety.

Future research needs to explore the efficacy of interventions on multiple clinical outcomes and which combination of interventions (components) would have the most significant effects when using CBT. The generalization of treatment effects in different countries and carers of different types of dementia also need to be addressed. More research is needed to test the efficacy of modern forms of CBT, such as ACT.

Little is known about the association of cortical Aβ with depression and anxiety among cognitively normal (CN) elderly persons.

We conducted a cross-sectional study derived from the population-based Mayo Clinic Study of Aging in Olmsted County, Minnesota; involving CN persons aged ≥ 60 years that underwent PiB-PET scans and completed Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Cognitive diagnosis was made by an expert consensus panel. Participants were classified as having abnormal (≥1.4; PiB+) or normal PiB-PET (<1.4; PiB−) using a global cortical to cerebellar ratio. Multi-variable logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) after adjusting for age and sex.

Of 1,038 CN participants (53.1% males), 379 were PiB+. Each one point symptom increase in the BDI (OR = 1.03; 1.00–1.06) and BAI (OR = 1.04; 1.01–1.08) was associated with increased odds of PiB-PET+. The number of participants with BDI > 13 (clinical depression) was greater in the PiB-PET+ than PiB-PET- group but the difference was not significant (OR = 1.42; 0.83–2.43). Similarly, the number of participants with BAI > 10 (clinical anxiety) was greater in the PiB-PET+ than PiB-PET− group but the difference was not significant (OR = 1.77; 0.97–3.22).

As expected, depression and anxiety levels were low in this community-dwelling sample, which likely reduced our statistical power. However, we observed an informative albeit weak association between increased BDI and BAI scores and elevated cortical amyloid deposition. This observation needs to be tested in a longitudinal cohort study.

Caring for persons with dementia is stressful for family caregivers. Caregiver training programs and respite care can reduce this stress and help maintain persons with dementia living longer in the community. We evaluated a program that combines caregiver training with a residential respite stay.

In total, 90 dyads of persons with dementia and their caregivers, in groups of 3–6 dyads, volunteered to participate in a five-day residential training program and were followed-up 6 and 12 months later. The primary outcome was caregiver depression; secondary outcomes were measures of caregiver burden, unmet needs, person with dementia behavioral symptoms, and the quality of life and function.

Caregiver depression and burden were unchanged, despite decreasing function in persons with dementia. Caregivers’ unmet needs and behavioral symptoms in persons with dementia decreased significantly. Compared to a group of persons with dementia admitted for routine residential respite care, there was a marked reduction in permanent placement over 12 months.

The Going to Stay at Home Program is a feasible and practicable model with benefits for caregivers and persons with dementia. It may lead to delay in institutionalization and may be applicable to other chronic conditions.

We apply recently recommended Parkinson's disease mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) classification criteria from the movement disorders society (MDS) to PD patients and controls and compare diagnoses to that of short global cognitive scales at baseline and over time. We also examine baseline prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms across different definitions of MCI.

51 PD patients and 50 controls were classified as cognitively normal, MCI, or demented using MDS criteria (1.5 or 2.0 SD below normative values), Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR), and the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS). All subject had parallel assessment with the Neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI).

We confirmed that PD-MCI (a) is frequent, (b) increases the risk of PDD, and (c) affects multiple cognitive domains. We highlight the predictive variability of different criteria, suggesting the need for further refinement and standardization. When a common dementia outcome was used, the Level II MDS optimal testing battery with impairment defined as two SD below norms in 2+ tests performs the best. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were more common in PD across all baseline and longitudinal cognitive classifications.

Our results advance previous findings on the utility of MDS PD-MCI criteria for PD patients and controls at baseline and over time. Additionally, we emphasize the possible utility of other cognitive scales and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Antipsychotics are commonly used, and the rate of use is highest, among those aged 65 years or over, where the risk of adverse events is also high. Up to 20% of younger adults use more than one antipsychotic concurrently; however there are few studies on the prevalence of antipsychotic polypharmacy in older people. We aimed to analyze antipsychotic use in elderly Australians, focusing on the prevalence of antipsychotic polypharmacy and the use of medicines to manage adverse events associated with antipsychotics.

A cross-sectional study was conducted using Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) administrative claims data for the period 1 March 2014 to 30 June 2014. Veterans dispensed at least one antipsychotic medicine during the study period was included. We determined the number of participants dispensed antipsychotic polypharmacy and the number of participants dispensed medicines to manage antipsychotic side effects.

There were 7,412 participants with a median age of 86 years. Fifty-one percent (n=3,784) were women and 48% (n=3,569) lived in residential aged-care. Fifty one participants (0.7%) were dispensed anticholinergic medicines indicated for the management of antipsychotic-associated extrapyramidal movement disorders and eight (0.1%) were dispensed medicines for the management of hyperprolactinemia. Five percent of participants (n=365) received dual antipsychotics. Dual antipsychotic users were more likely to be under the care of a psychiatrist or to have had a mental health hospitalization than those using a single antipsychotic.

Antipsychotic polypharmacy occurred in one in 20 elderly persons, indicating that there is room for improvement in antipsychotic use in elderly patients.

To develop a theoretical model explaining the longitudinal changes in the caregiving process for family caregivers of persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Taiwan.

A longitudinal, grounded theory approach using in-depth face-to-face interviews and an open-ended interview guide. We conducted 42 interviews over a two-year period; each participant was interviewed at least once every six months. All participants were interviewed in their home. The participants total of 13 family caregivers of persons with MCI.

One core theme emerged: “protective preparation.” This reflected the family caregiving process of preparation for a further decline in cognitive function, and protection from the impact of low self-esteem, accidents, and symptoms of comorbidities for the family member with MCI. Protective preparation contained three components: ambivalent normalization, vigilant preparation, and protective management.

Interventions to help family caregivers manage the changes in persons with MCI can reduce caregiver burden. Our findings could provide a knowledge base for use by healthcare providers to develop and implement strategies to reduce caregiver burden for family caregivers of persons with MCI.

Smoking is a well-established risk factor for dementia, but the effects of passive smoking are unclear. We aimed to examine links between passive smoking and dementia or cognitive impairment.

We searched seven medical research databases: MEDLINE, Web of Science (Core Collection), Cochrane, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and CINAHL Plus. Studies were included if they examined measures of passive smoking and either cognitive impairment or dementia.

Of 1,425 records found, nine papers of varying methodologies were included after screening against inclusion criteria. Eight papers reported weak associations between passive smoking and either cognitive impairment or dementia. One paper only found this association alongside carotid artery stenosis. The papers’ quality was variable, with only two deemed high quality.

There is limited weak observational evidence linking passive smoking with an increased risk of cognitive impairment or dementia. However, the studies were methodologically diverse and of inconsistent quality, preventing firm conclusions.

Emerging genetic, ex-vivo, and clinical trial evidence indicates that calcium channel blockers (CCB) can improve mood and cognitive function. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) therapy augmented with CCB on depression and cognitive decline in an elderly population with hypertension.

Prospective study of 296 persons treated with SSRI and antihypertensive drugs. Baseline and two year clinic assessments were used to categorize participants as users of SSRI + CCB (n = 53) or users of SSRI + other antihypertensives (n = 243). Clinic visits were performed up to four times in a ten-year period to assess depression and cognitive function.

The sample mean age was 75.2 ± 5.47 years and 78% of participants were female. At two year follow-up there was a significant group by time interaction showing lower Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CESD) scores in the SSRI + CCB group, F(1,291) = 4.13, p = 0.043, η2p = 0.014. Over ten-years follow-up, SSRI + CCB use was associated with improved general cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination: β = 0.97; 95% CI 0.14 to 1.81, p = 0.023) and immediate visual memory (Boston Visual Retention Test: β = 0.69; 95% CI 0.06 to 1.32, p = 0.033).

The findings provide general population evidence that SSRI augmentation with CCB may improve depression and cognitive function.

Aging is accompanied by cognitive decline that is escalated in older adults reporting extreme sleep duration. Social relationships can influence health outcomes and thus may qualify the association between sleep duration and cognitive function. The present study examines the moderating effects of marital status, household size, and social network with friends and relatives on the sleep–cognition association among older adults.

Data (N = 4,169) came from the Social Isolation, Health, and Lifestyles Survey, a nationally representative survey of community-dwelling older Singaporeans (≥ 60 years). Sleep duration and social relationships were self-reported. Cognitive function was assessed with the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire.

Regression analysis revealed that the inverted U-shaped association between sleep duration and cognitive function was less profound among older adults who were married (vs. unmarried) and those who had stronger (vs. weaker) social networks. In contrast, it was more prominent among individuals who had more (vs. fewer) household members.

Being married and having stronger social networks may buffer against the negative cognitive impact of extreme sleep duration. But larger household size might imply more stress for older persons, and therefore strengthen the sleep duration–cognitive function association. We discuss the potential biological underpinnings and the policy implications of the findings. Although our findings are based on a large sample, replication studies using objective measures of sleep duration and other cognitive measures are needed.

There is an increasing evidence that reminiscence therapy is effective in improving cognitive functions and reducing depressive symptoms in people with dementia. Life story books (LSBs) are frequently used as a reminiscence tool to support recollecting autobiographical memories. As little is known about how LSBs are used and what type of studies have been employed to evaluate LSB interventions, we conducted a systematic review.

The electronic databases Scopus, PubMed, and PsychINFO as well as reference lists of existing studies were searched to select eligible articles. Out of the 55 studies found, 14 met the inclusion criterion of an original empirical study on LSBs in people with dementia.

The majority of the LSBs were tangible books, although some digital applications were also found. The LSBs were created mostly in individual sessions in nursing homes with a median of six sessions. Some studies only focused on the person with dementia, while others also examined (in)formal caregivers. Most studies used qualitative interviews, case studies, and/or (pilot) randomized controlled trial (RCTs) with small sample sizes. Qualitative findings showed the value of LSBs in triggering memories and in improving the relation with the person with dementia. Quantitative effects were found on, e.g. autobiographical memory and depression of persons with dementia, quality of relationship with informal caregivers, burden of informal caregivers, and on attitudes and knowledge of formal caregivers.

This systematic review confirms that the use of LSBs to support reminiscence and person-centered care is promising, but larger RCTs or implementation studies are needed to establish the effects of LSBs on people with dementia.

Dementia has negative consequences for both persons with dementia and their family caregivers. Dyadic interventions in which both groups participate together have shown an effective and promising approach. The Couples Life Story Approach (CLSA) that was recently developed for older couples dealing with dementia in the USA was adapted and implemented for the older Korean population in this study. The purpose of this paper is to understand how older Korean couples dealing with dementia experienced the CLSA.

Fifty six couples (n = 102) completed the five-week intervention from December 2013 to October 2015. The participants completed a survey including open-ended questions one week after finishing the intervention. A thematic content analysis was conducted to analyze the responses.

Qualitative analysis revealed benefits and challenges in the experience of CLSA. Themes related to benefits were: (1) emotional benefits of reminiscing; (2) positive evaluation of life as a couple; (3) gratitude toward spouse; (4) changes in communications or activities with spouse; and (5) changes in relationship quality. Couples’ experience varied, with some having mixed feelings about the intervention. Challenges perceived by participants included revival of bitterness and identification of loss.

Findings suggest the CLSA contributes to enhancing the quality of life for couples affected by Alzheimer's disease and improving their relationship. Challenges that emerged in the CLSA will guide future research to identify the sub-population that is appropriate for the couple-oriented intervention in dementia care.

There are some existing barriers posed by neuropsychological tests that interfere with the assessment of cognitive functioning by staff who work in long-term care facilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of assessing cognitive function through conversation.

A total of 100 care staff was randomly selected as participants. Each staff member evaluated cognitive function in one to three residents using the Conversational Assessment of Neurocognitive Dysfunction (CANDy), which is a screening test for dementia using conversation. Other scales used were the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer’ s Disease (BEHAVE-AD), and quality-of-life questionnaire for the elderly with dementia (QOL-D).

A total of 80 care staff members and 158 residents were analyzed. When the CANDy involved an evaluation based on face-to-face communication, it demonstrated significant correlations with the MMSE, BEHAVE-AD, and several indices of the QOL-D (e.g. negative affect and actions, communication ability, restless, and spontaneity and activity). In contrast, when the CANDy involved an evaluation based on an impression of a typical conversation, it only demonstrated significant relationships with the MMSE and the spontaneity and activity index of the QOL-D.

Conversational assessment is a useful means to assess cognitive functioning and to promote interactions between residents and care staff in long-term care facilities.

The number of elderly individuals living in China is increasing rapidly. The aim of this study was to examine the potential risk factors of geriatric depression in rural areas.

A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2015 and October 2016 in rural China. Nine hundred forty-five elderly individuals were included in both investigations. A generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to examine the relationships between geriatric depression and socio-demographics, the number of chronic diseases, ADL (Activity of Daily Living) disability, cognitive impairment, and anxiety.

Among the participants, the majority was female (61.4%) and illiterate (81.5%) and had a general economic status (63.0%) and more than two kinds of chronic diseases (62.9%). The bivariate analysis indicated that geriatric depression was associated with social support, education level, economic status, ADL disability, anxiety disorders, and cognitive impairment at both survey time points. The GEE results showed that poor economic status (OR = 8.294, p < 0.001), the presence of more than two chronic diseases (OR = 1.681, p = 0.048), ADL disability (OR = 2.184, p < 0.001), cognitive impairment (OR = 1.921, p < 0.001), and anxiety (OR = 5.434, p < 0.001) were risk factors for geriatric depression in rural China; better social support (OR = 0.924, 95% CI = 0.899–0.949, p < 0.001) was found to be a protective factor.

Geriatric depression in rural China was associated with several socio-demographic, physical, and mental factors. Targeted interventions are essential to improve the psychological health of aged individuals in rural China.

Mental health problems have been reported as one of the principal causes of incapacity and morbidity. According to the World Health Organization approximately 15% of adults aged 60+ and over suffer from a mental disorder. In the oldest old population, a higher deterioration in the mental state is expected, which is ought to increase the risk of incidence of mental problems and use of healthcare services. The aim of this study is to examine inpatient episodes with a mental disorder coded as primary discharge diagnosis between 2000 and 2014 by patients aged 80+ in Portugal mainland.

Exploratory descriptive analyses of data regarding the number of episodes and coded diagnosis on admission were performed.

From a total of 1,837,613 inpatient episodes, 16,430 (0.9%) correspond to episodes having a psychiatric disorder as a primary discharge diagnosis. Delirium, dementia and amnestic and other cognitive disorders (60.1%), alcohol-related disorders (17.7%) and mood disorders (8.6%) were the most common diagnosis. An analysis by age group revealed that among octogenarians and nonagenarians delirium, dementia, and amnestic and other cognitive disorders were the most common diagnosis; in the centenarian group; however, these were outweighed by alcohol-related disorders.

Findings from this study document the importance of neurocognitive disorders as a primary reason for hospitalization in the oldest old, but also highlights the need of paying attention to other mental disorders among this age group. Further studies should examine the prevalence of medical comorbidities in patients with mental disorders.