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| 2. |
- Agüero-Torres, Hedda, et al.
(författare)
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Disability in activities of daily living among the elderly
- 2001
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Ingår i: Current Opinion in Psychiatry. - 0951-7367 .- 1473-6578. ; 14:4, s. 355-359
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The rise in number and proportion of older people, and the functional disability that is associated with increasing age, generate concern regarding the societal consequences of a large number of disabled elderly persons. Therefore, measuring disability in terms of activities of daily living has become routine in surveys of older people in most studies on ageing. Despite methodological obstacles, research into functional ability in the elderly has progressed during the past few decades. A high prevalence of functional disability in the elderly is consistently reported, although considerable variation has been found among studies. In contrast to functionally independent elderly, disabled elderly have been found to make increased use of home help services, and have higher institutionalization rates and premature mortality. Factors that are consistently reported as being associated with increased functional disability are older age, female sex, lower educational level, lack of exercise, chronic disease and impaired cognition. Among the chronic diseases, dementia is a progressive and disabling condition that accounts for a large proportion of the disability in elderly populations. A combination of various strategies must be employed in the approach to reduction of disability in the elderly population. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of risk and protective factors, so that we will be able to detect persons at early stages of disability, and to plan for services or rehabilitation for severely disabled persons.
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| 3. |
- Agüero-Torres, Hedda, et al.
(författare)
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Institutionalization in the elderly : The role of chronic diseases and dementia. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data from a population-based study
- 2001
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. - : Elsevier. - 0895-4356 .- 1878-5921. ; 54:8, s. 795-801
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A population-based study of 1810 persons, aged 75+, was investigated to evaluate the role of dementia and other chronic diseases as determinants of institutionalization in the elderly. The study population was examined at baseline and after a 3-year interval. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, functional dependence, dementia, cerebrovascular disease and hip fracture were associated with living in an institution at baseline. Additionally, functional dependence, hip fracture and dementia were also associated with moving to an institution during the 3-year follow-up. In a similar analysis, including only nondemented subjects, the Mini-Mental State Examination emerged as one of the strongest determinants. The population attributable risk percentage of institutionalization during the 3-year follow-up due to dementia was 61%. This study confirms that dementia and cognitive impairment are the main contributors to institutionalization in the elderly, independently of their sociodemographic status, social network, or functional status.
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| 4. |
- Andreasson, Ulf, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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A Practical Guide to Immunoassay Method Validation.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Frontiers in neurology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-2295. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biochemical markers have a central position in the diagnosis and management of patients in clinical medicine, and also in clinical research and drug development, also for brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is frequently used for measurement of low-abundance biomarkers. However, the quality of ELISA methods varies, which may introduce both systematic and random errors. This urges the need for more rigorous control of assay performance, regardless of its use in a research setting, in clinical routine, or drug development. The aim of a method validation is to present objective evidence that a method fulfills the requirements for its intended use. Although much has been published on which parameters to investigate in a method validation, less is available on a detailed level on how to perform the corresponding experiments. To remedy this, standard operating procedures (SOPs) with step-by-step instructions for a number of different validation parameters is included in the present work together with a validation report template, which allow for a well-ordered presentation of the results. Even though the SOPs were developed with the intended use for immunochemical methods and to be used for multicenter evaluations, most of them are generic and can be used for other technologies as well.
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| 5. |
- Axenhus, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in dementia diagnoses in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic
- 2022
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Ingår i: BMC Geriatrics. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2318 .- 1471-2318. ; 22:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused large disruptions to healthcare systems. Refocus on COVID-19 related care might have contributed to indirect effects on other healthcare areas. Care focused on acute conditions have been negatively affected although research into the effects on chronic and care intensive patient groups such as patients with dementia diseases is lacking. In this study we evaluated dementia diagnosis trends in Sweden during 2015–2020 according to International Classification of Disease version 10 coding of common dementia diseases.Methods: Regional and national statistics in the form of International Classification of Disease version 10 coding, COVID-19 incidence, mortality data, and population census data were collected from the National Institute of Health and Welfare. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify trends of dementia diagnosis during 2015–2020. Correlation test was performed between COVID-19 incidence, mortality rates, and dementia coding.Results: Dementia diagnosis incidence has been declining since 2015 and further decline was noted in many regions in Sweden during 2020. As COVID-19 incidence increased, fewer cases of dementia were diagnosed, a decrease that differentially impacted women and those who were advanced in age.Conclusions: Dementia diagnosis incidence in Sweden has been on a decline since 2015. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a further larger decline in dementia diagnosis incidence during 2020. COVID-19 incidence, but not mortality, was associated with decrease in dementia diagnosis incidence. There might be a large number of undiagnosed patients with dementia and healthcare reforms should be enacted to address this. Women and elderly are particularly vulnerable groups.
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| 6. |
- Baxter, Rebecca, et al.
(författare)
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The thriving of older people assessment scale : Psychometric evaluation and short‐form development
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Advanced Nursing. - : Wiley. - 0309-2402 .- 1365-2648. ; 75:12, s. 3831-3843
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: To evaluate the psychometric properties and performance of the 32‐item Thriving of Older People Assessment Scale (TOPAS) and to explore reduction into a short‐form.Background: The 32‐item TOPAS has been used in studies of place‐related well‐being as a positive measure in long‐term care to assess nursing home resident thriving; however, item redundancy has not previously been explored.Design: Cross‐sectional.Method: Staff members completed the 32‐item TOPAS as proxy‐raters for a random sample of Swedish nursing home residents (N = 4,831) between November 2013 and September 2014. Reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis and item response theory‐based analysis were undertaken. Items were systematically identified for reduction using statistical and theoretical analysis. Correlation testing, means comparison and model fit evaluation confirmed scale equivalence.Results: Psychometric properties of the 32‐item TOPAS were satisfactory and several items were identified for scale reduction. The proposed short‐form TOPAS exhibited a high level of internal consistency (α=0.90) and strong correlation (r=0.98) to the original scale, while also retaining diversity among items in terms of factor structure and item difficulties.Conclusion: The 32‐item and short‐form TOPAS' indicated sound validity and reliability to measure resident thriving in the nursing home context.Impact: There is a lack of positive life‐world measures for use in nursing homes. The short‐form TOPAS indicated sound validity and reliability to measure resident thriving, providing a feasible measure with enhanced functionality for use in aged care research, assessments and care planning for health promoting purposes in nursing homes.
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| 7. |
- Belin, Andrea Carmine, et al.
(författare)
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Association study of two genetic variants in mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
- 2007
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Ingår i: Neuroscience letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3940. ; 420:3, s. 257-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mitochondrial (mt) dysfunction has been implicated in Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is needed for mtDNA maintenance, regulating mtDNA copy number and is absolutely required for transcriptional initiation at mtDNA promoters. Two genetic variants in TFAM have been reported to be associated with AD in a Caucasian case-control material collected from Germany, Switzerland and Italy. One of these variants was reported to show a tendency for association with AD in a pooled Scottish and Swedish case-control material and the other variant was reported to be associated with AD in a recent meta-analysis. We investigated these two genetic variants, rs1937 and rs2306604, in an AD and a PD case-control material, both from Sweden and found significant genotypic as well as allelic association to marker rs2306604 in the AD case-control material (P=0.05 and P=0.03, respectively), where the A-allele appears to increase risk for developing AD. No association was observed for marker rs1937. We did not find any association in the PD case-control material for either of the two markers. The distribution of the two-locus haplotype frequencies (based on rs1937 and rs2306604) did not differ significantly between affected individuals and controls in the two sample sets. However, the global P-value for haplotypic association testing indicated borderline association in the AD sample set. Our data suggests that the rs2306604 A-allele could be a moderate risk factor for AD, which is supported by the recent meta-analysis.
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| 8. |
- Björk, Sabine, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring the prevalence and variance of cognitive impairment, pain, neuropsychiatric symptoms and ADL dependency among persons living in nursing homes : a cross-sectional study
- 2016
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Ingår i: BMC Geriatrics. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2318 .- 1471-2318. ; 16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Earlier studies in nursing homes show a high prevalence of cognitive impairment, dependency in activities of daily living (ADL), pain, and neuropsychiatric symptoms among residents. The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of the above among residents in a nationally representative sample of Swedish nursing homes, and to investigate whether pain and neuropsychiatric symptoms differ in relation to gender, cognitive function, ADL-capacity, type of nursing-home unit and length of stay. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 188 randomly selected nursing homes were collected. A total of 4831 residents were assessed for cognitive and ADL function, pain and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. Results: The results show the following: the prevalence of cognitive impairment was 67 %, 56 % of residents were ADL-dependent, 48 % exhibited pain and 92 % exhibited neuropsychiatric symptoms. The prevalence of pain did not differ significantly between male and female residents, but pain was more prevalent among cognitively impaired and ADL-dependent residents. Pain prevalence was not significantly different between residents in special care units for people with dementia (SCU) and general units, or between shorter-and longer-stay residents. Furthermore, the prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms did not differ significantly between male and female residents, between ADL capacities or in relation to length of stay. However, residents with cognitive impairment and residents in SCUs had a significantly higher prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms than residents without cognitive impairment and residents in general units. Conclusions: The prevalence rates ascertained in this study could contribute to a greater understanding of the needs of nursing-home residents, and may provide nursing home staff and managers with trustworthy assessment scales and benchmark values for further quality assessment purposes, clinical development work and initiating future nursing assessments.
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| 9. |
- Bloniecki, Victor, et al.
(författare)
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Are neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia linked to CSF biomarkers of synaptic and axonal degeneration?
- 2020
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Ingår i: Alzheimer's Research & Therapy. - : BioMed Central. - 1758-9193. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The underlying disease mechanism of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in dementia remains unclear. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for synaptic and axonal degeneration may provide novel neuropathological information for their occurrence. The aim was to investigate the relationship between NPS and CSF biomarkers for synaptic (neurogranin [Ng], growth-associated protein 43 [GAP-43]) and axonal (neurofilament light [NFL]) injury in patients with dementia.METHODS: A total of 151 patients (mean age ± SD, 73.5 ± 11.0, females n = 92 [61%]) were included, of which 64 had Alzheimer's disease (AD) (34 with high NPS, i.e., Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) score > 10 and 30 with low levels of NPS) and 18 were diagnosed with vascular dementia (VaD), 27 with mixed dementia (MIX), 12 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 30 with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI). NPS were primarily assessed using the NPI. CSF samples were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for T-tau, P-tau, Aβ1-42, Ng, NFL, and GAP-43.RESULTS: No significant differences were seen in the CSF levels of Ng, GAP-43, and NFL between AD patients with high vs low levels of NPS (but almost significantly decreased for Ng in AD patients < 70 years with high NPS, p = 0.06). No significant associations between NPS and CSF biomarkers were seen in AD patients. In VaD (n = 17), negative correlations were found between GAP-43, Ng, NFL, and NPS.CONCLUSION: Our results could suggest that low levels of Ng may be associated with higher severity of NPS early in the AD continuum (age < 70). Furthermore, our data may indicate a potential relationship between the presence of NPS and synaptic as well as axonal degeneration in the setting of VaD pathology.
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| 10. |
- Bloniecki, Victor, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Risperidone and Galantamine Treatment on Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Levels in Cerebrospinal Fluid
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - : IOS Press. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 57:2, s. 387-393
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Treatment for neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in dementia is insufficient. Antipsychotics and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are used generating symptomatic improvements in behavior and cognition, but few studies have investigated their effect on Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).OBJECTIVE: This is a secondary analysis based on an earlier clinical trial comparing the treatment effects on NPS. The aim of this study was to examine whether treatment with risperidone and galantamine affect levels of the biomarkers T-Tau, P-Tau, Aβ1-42, and Aβ42/40-ratio in CSF. The secondary aim was to test if baseline levels of these biomarkers are associated with the clinical course of NPS.METHODS: 83 patients (mean + SD 77.9.6±7.7 years) with dementia and NPS were randomized to galantamine (n = 44) or risperidone (n = 39) treatment. CSF samples were collected at baseline and after 12 weeks.RESULTS: Changes in levels of biomarkers between the two treatment groups did not differ significantly. Low baseline levels of Aβ1 - 42 was significantly associated with reduction of irritability at follow up. Low baseline levels of Aβ1-42, Aβ42/40, and P-Tau were significant correlates of reduction in appetite and eating disorders. CSF Aβ1-42 levels in patients treated with risperidone were significantly decreased at follow up, showing an 8% (40 pg/mL) reduction as compared with baseline (p = 0.03).CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that risperidone may affect the CSF profile of AD biomarkers indicating more amyloid pathology. Treatment with galantamine did not affect the CSF biomarkers in any direction. The AD CSF biomarkers displayed correlations with specific NPS suggesting potential research questions to be pursued.
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