Development and validation of cognitive ageing risk score (CARS) for early detection of subtle cognitive deficits in older people.

Background: Early cognitive deficits commonly seen in older people have not been well defined and managed in primary care. The objectives are (1) to develop and validate a new risk score to estimate the risk of dementia in Chinese older population; and (2) to evaluate the use of risk score in conjunction with cognitive screening in detecting early cognitive deficits in community older people.

Methods: A development cohort of 306 cognitive healthy older adults aged 60 or above were followed for 6 years.

Diversity in verbal fluency performance and its associations with MRI-informed brain age matrices in normal ageing and neurocognitive disorders.

Introduction: Category verbal fluency test (CVFT) has been widely used to assess and monitor the cognitive capacities in epidemiological studies and clinical trials. Pronounced discrepancy in CVFT performance has been found in individuals with different cognitive statuses. This study aimed to combine the psychometric and morphometric approaches to decode the complex verbal fluency performance in senior adults with normal ageing and neurocognitive disorders.

The Role of Depressive Symptoms and Physical Activity Levels in Mediating the Association Between HIV Status and Neurocognitive Functions Among Individuals Aged at Least 50 Years in China: Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Neurocognitive impairments are prevalent among older people in China. It is more problematic among older people living with HIV.

Objective: This study aims to compare neurocognitive performance between older people living with HIV and HIV-negative controls, and to explore whether the association between HIV status and neurocognitive performance was mediated by depressive symptoms and level of physical activity.

Information Communication Technology as Instrumental Activities of Daily Living for Aging-in-Place in Chinese Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment: The Validation Study of Advanced Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale.

Background: The capability in applying information communication technology (ICT) is crucial to the functional independence of older peoples of community living nowadays. The proper assessment of individuals' capability of ICT application is the corner stone for the future development of telemedicine in our aging population.

Methods: With the recruitment of 300 participants of different functional and social background in home-living, hostel-living, and care-and-attention home living; and through assessing the ability of individuals in instrumental activities of daily living and cognitive assessments, this study aimed at capturing the content validity and construct validity of the Advanced Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (AIADL scale).

Knowledge of mental health symptoms and help seeking attitude in a population-based sample in Hong Kong.

Background: Mental health symptoms can be subtle, resulting in delaying treatment. A prompt identification of mental signs and symptoms is important for preventing mental disorders in the public. This study examined whether local public have adequate knowledge to identify mental health symptoms and the need to get timely professional help.

Effect of physical exercise and medication on enhancing cognitive function in older adults with vascular risk.

Aim: To examine the association of physical exercise (PE) and medication on cognitive function in older adults with vascular risk.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 478 non-demented participants aged ≥60 years with vascular risk. Management strategy included PE (mind-body exercise and/or strenuous exercise), medication, PE combined with medication and no management at all.

Efavirenz use and neurocognitive performance among older people living with HIV who were on antiretroviral therapy.

This study was to compare global and domain-specific neurocognitive performance between older people living with HIV (PLWH) taking/not taking efavirenz (EFV) and HIV-negative controls. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Yongzhou city, China. All PLWH older than 50 years listed on the registry of Centres for Disease Control and Prevention were invited to join the study.

Validation of a computerized Hong Kong - vigilance and memory test (HK-VMT) to detect early cognitive impairment in healthy older adults.

Hong Kong - Vigilance and Memory Test (HK-VMT) is developed to distinguish early cognitive impairment in the pre-symptomatic phase from normal cognitive ageing in older adults. The objectives were to validate HK-VMT to differentiate mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy control (HC), and to explore the cut-off scores for different educational levels. A total of 606 older adults underwent the HK-VMT and conventional cognitive tests.

Anxiety symptoms predicted decline in episodic memory in cognitively healthy older adults: A 3-year prospective study.

Objective: Prospective studies on late-life anxiety disorders suggested that history of anxiety symptoms may be predictive of cognitive decline in old age. However, the relationship between anxiety and cognitive decline is still inconclusive due to heterogeneity in sample and methodology. This study was to explore how baseline anxiety symptoms associated with the change of memory in older people without cognitive impairment over a 3-year period.

Prevalence of anxiety disorders in community dwelling older adults in Hong Kong.

Background: Anxiety disorders are prevalent yet under-recognized in late life. We examined the prevalence of anxiety disorders in a representative sample of community dwelling older adults in Hong Kong.

Method: Data on 1,158 non-demented respondents aged 60-75 years were extracted from the Hong Kong Mental Morbidity survey (HKMMS).

A cross-sectional study on clinical correlates of anxiety disorders in 613 community living older adults in Hong Kong.

Objectives: Previous studies have reported that the prevalence of late life anxiety disorders varies between 3.2% and 15.3%.

Would older adults with mild cognitive impairment adhere to and benefit from a structured lifestyle activity intervention to enhance cognition?: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Epidemiologic evidence suggests that cognitive and physical activities are associated with better cognition in late life. The present study was conducted to examine the possible benefits of four structured lifestyle activity interventions and compare their effectiveness in optimizing cognition for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Method And Findings: This was a 12-month cluster randomized controlled trial.

Bias in discriminating very mild dementia for older adults with different levels of education in Hong Kong.

Background: Education has a profound effect on older adults' cognitive performance. In Hong Kong, some dementia screening tasks were originally designed for developed population with, on average, higher education.

Methods: We compared the screening power of these tasks for Chinese older adults with different levels of education.

Estrogen receptor α polymorphisms and the risk of cognitive decline: A 2-year follow-up study.

Objective: The neuroprotective role of estrogen is supported by biochemical studies, but the results from clinical trials of estrogen replacement therapy on cognitive decline are controversial. One possible missing link might be the interindividual difference in estrogen receptor expression. In this study, the association of estrogen receptor α (ESR1) polymorphisms and cognitive decline was investigated.

Capacity to make decisions on medication management in Chinese older persons with mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease.

Background: This study aimed to assess if decisional capacity and the four decision-making abilities related to decisions concerning medication management were impaired among community-dwelling Chinese older persons in Hong Kong with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), as compared with cognitively normal older adults.

Methods: Two hundred and ninety-one Chinese community-dwelling older adults were recruited. The four decision-making abilities and decisional capacity were assessed by using the Chinese version of the Assessment of Capacity for Everyday Decision-Making (ACED) and independent clinician ratings based on the definition in the UK Mental Capacity Act 2005, respectively.

Examining the association between late-life leisure activity participation and global cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly Chinese in Hong Kong.

Objective: This study examines the association between late-life leisure activity participation and global cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly Chinese in Hong Kong.

Methods: Five hundred and five participants, not clinically demented at the baseline, were analysed in the follow-up study of a population-based community survey among Hong Kong Chinese aged 60 and over. Information regarding leisure activity participation, global cognitive function and important sociodemographic variables was collected.