The unintended effects of a large minimum wage increase on health: Evidence from South Korea.

The 2018 minimum wage increase in South Korea was a major policy change that impacted employment and labour productivity, but its effects on health have not yet been explored. The minimum wage was increased by 16.4% in January 2018, marking the largest increase over two decades and a substantial increase by international standards.

Socio-ethical challenges and opportunities for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in digital medicine.

Digitalization in medicine offers a significant opportunity to transform healthcare systems by providing novel digital tools and services to guide personalized prevention, prediction, diagnosis, treatment and disease management. This transformation raises a number of novel socio-ethical considerations for individuals and society as a whole, which need to be appropriately addressed to ensure that digital medical devices (DMDs) are widely adopted and benefit all patients as well as healthcare service providers. In this narrative review, based on a broad literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, we outline five core socio-ethical considerations in digital medicine that intersect with the notions of equity and digital inclusion: (i) access, use and engagement with DMDs, (ii) inclusiveness in DMD clinical trials, (iii) algorithm fairness, (iv) surveillance and datafication, and (v) data privacy and trust.

The associations of socioeconomic position with structural brain damage and connectivity and cognitive functioning: The Maastricht Study.

Background: Socioeconomic inequalities in cognitive impairment may partly act through structural brain damage and reduced connectivity. This study investigated the extent to which the association of early-life socioeconomic position (SEP) with later-life cognitive functioning is mediated by later-life SEP, and whether the associations of SEP with later-life cognitive functioning can be explained by structural brain damage and connectivity.

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Dutch population-based Maastricht Study (n = 4,839; mean age 59.

Risk and protective factors for cognitive decline in Brazilian lower educated older adults: A 15-year follow-up study using group-based trajectory modelling.

Background: Patterns of cognitive change and modifiable factors for cognitive decline versus stable cognitive trajectories have rarely been described in lower-educated older adults.

Objectives: We aimed to identify long-term trajectories of cognitive functioning and possible factors associated with cognitive decline.

Design And Participants: We used data from 1,042 adults aged ≥ 60 participating in the Health, Welfare and Aging Study (SABE), São Paulo, Brazil, without cognitive impairment at baseline.

AI Through Ethical Lenses: A Discourse Analysis of Guidelines for AI in Healthcare.

While the technologies that enable Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to advance rapidly, there are increasing promises regarding AI's beneficial outputs and concerns about the challenges of human-computer interaction in healthcare. To address these concerns, institutions have increasingly resorted to publishing AI guidelines for healthcare, aiming to align AI with ethical practices. However, guidelines as a form of written language can be analyzed to recognize the reciprocal links between its textual communication and underlying societal ideas.

Cognition and Other Non-Motor Symptoms in an At-Risk Cohort for Parkinson's Disease Defined by REM-Sleep Behavior Disorder and Hyposmia.

Background: REM-sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and other non-motor symptoms such as hyposmia were proposed by the Movement Disorder Society as research criteria for prodromal Parkinson's disease (P-PD). Global cognitive deficit was later added.

Objective: To compare non-motor symptoms, focusing on cognition, between a P-PD group and a matched control group.

Gut microbiome is not associated with mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease.

Gut microbiome differences between people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and control subjects without Parkinsonism are widely reported, but potential alterations related to PD with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have yet to be comprehensively explored. We compared gut microbial features of PD with MCI (n = 58) to cognitively unimpaired PD (n = 60) and control subjects (n = 90) with normal cognition. Our results did not support a specific microbiome signature related to MCI in PD.

Performance of probable dementia classification in a European multi-country survey.

Feasibility constraints limit availability of validated cognitive assessments in observational studies. Algorithm-based identification of 'probable dementia' is thus needed, but no algorithm developed so far has been applied in the European context. The present study sought to explore the usefulness of the Langa-Weir (LW) algorithm to detect 'probable dementia' while accounting for country-level variation in prevalence and potential underreporting of dementia.

Creation of a pandemic memory by tracing COVID-19 infections and immunity in Luxembourg (CON-VINCE).

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic swift implementation of research cohorts was key. While many studies focused exclusively on infected individuals, population based cohorts are essential for the follow-up of SARS-CoV-2 impact on public health. Here we present the CON-VINCE cohort, estimate the point and period prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, reflect on the spread within the Luxembourgish population, examine immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, and ascertain the impact of the pandemic on population psychological wellbeing at a nationwide level.

Retrograde procedural memory is impaired in people with Parkinson's disease with freezing of gait.

Background: Freezing of gait (FOG), is associated with impairment of different cognitive functions. Previous studies hypothesized that FOG may be due to a loss of automaticity.

Research Question: To explore whether FOG is associated with impairment in cognitive functions, focusing on retrograde procedural memory, the memory responsible for the automatic, implicit stored procedures that have been acquired in earlier life stages.

Programme Dementia Prevention (pdp): A Nationwide Program for Personalized Prevention in Luxembourg.

Background: With continuously aging societies, an increase in the number of people with cognitive decline is to be expected. Aside from the development of causative treatments, the successful implementation of prevention strategies is of utmost importance to reduce the high societal burden caused by neurodegenerative diseases leading to dementia among which the most common cause is Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: The aim of the Luxembourgish "programme dementia prevention (pdp)" is to prevent or at least delay dementia in an at-risk population through personalized multi-domain lifestyle interventions.

The MEDITAGING study: protocol of a two-armed randomized controlled study to compare the effects of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program against a health promotion program in older migrants in Luxembourg.

Background: Migration is a phenomenon worldwide, with older migrants, particularly those with fewer socioeconomic resources, having an increased risk of developing adverse cognitive and health outcomes and social isolation. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to validate interventions that promote healthy aging in this population. Previous studies have shown a positive impact of mindfulness based-stress reduction (MBSR) on outcomes such as cognition and sleep.

Determinants of patient-reported functional mobility in people with Parkinson's disease: A systematic review.

Background: Information on determinants of patient-reported functional mobility is lacking but would inform the planning of healthcare, resources and strategies to promote functional mobility in people with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Research Question: To identify the determinants of patient-reported functional mobility of people with PD.

Methods: Eligible: Randomized Controlled Trials, cohort, case-control, or cross-sectional analyses in people PD without date or setting restrictions, published in English, German, or French.

Artificial intelligence for dementia prevention.

Introduction: A wide range of modifiable risk factors for dementia have been identified. Considerable debate remains about these risk factors, possible interactions between them or with genetic risk, and causality, and how they can help in clinical trial recruitment and drug development. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) may refine understanding.

Contributions of modifiable risk factors to increased dementia risk in depression.

Background: Individuals with depression have an increased dementia risk, which might be due to modifiable risk factors for dementia. This study investigated the extent to which the increased risk for dementia in depression is explained by modifiable dementia risk factors.

Methods: We used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2008-2009 to 2018-2019), a prospective cohort study.

Does (re-)entering the labour market at advanced ages protect against cognitive decline? A matching difference-in-differences approach.

Background: While prolonged labour market participation becomes increasingly important in ageing societies, evidence on the impacts of entering or exiting work beyond age 65 on cognitive functioning is scarce.

Methods: We use data from two large population-representative data sets from South Korea and the USA to investigate and compare the effects of the labour market (re-)entry and exit by matching employment and other confounder trajectories prior to the exposure. We chose the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (N=1872, 2006-2020) for its exceptionally active labour participation in later life and the Health and Retirement Study (N=4070, 2006-2020) for its growing inequality among US older adults in labour participation.

Validation of a Parkinson's disease questionnaire-39-based functional mobility composite score (FMCS) in people with Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Functional mobility is an important outcome for people with Parkinson's disease (PwP). Despite this, there is no established patient-reported outcome measure that serves as a gold standard for assessing patient-reported functional mobility in PwP. We aimed to validate the algorithm calculating the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) based Functional Mobility Composite Score (FMCS).

Gender inequalities as contributors to dementia in Latin America and the Caribbean: what factors are missing from research?

The current knowledge of modifiable risk factors for dementia comes mainly from high-income countries. In Latin America and Caribbean countries, where the burden of gender and socioeconomic inequalities is greater than in high-income countries, the prevalence of dementia is also higher and disease onset is earlier, especially among women, even after adjustments for life expectancy. In this Personal View, we discuss socioeconomic modifiable risk factors for dementia established by previous studies and postulate further harmful and often hidden factors faced by women that might influence the gender-specific timing of onset and general prevalence of dementia.

Socioeconomic Deprivation, Genetic Risk, and Incident Dementia.

Introduction: Socioeconomic factors and genetic predisposition are established risk factors for dementia. It remains unclear whether associations of socioeconomic deprivation with dementia incidence are modified by genetic risk.

Methods: Participants in the UK Biobank aged ≥60 years and of European ancestry without dementia at baseline (2006-2010) were eligible for the analysis, with the main exposures area-level deprivation based on the Townsend Deprivation Index and individual-level socioeconomic deprivation based on car and home ownership, housing type and income, and polygenic risk of dementia.

Gendered life courses and cognitive functioning in later life: the role of context-specific gender norms and lifetime employment.

With increasing life expectancy, dementia poses an epidemiological challenge. As a cure has not been developed, the investigation into preventive factors becomes pivotal. Previous research emphasizes the cognitively stimulating and socio-emotional benefits of lifetime employment, but research on heterogeneous patterns across social groups and societal contexts remains sparse.

Sex/gender and socioeconomic differences in modifiable risk factors for dementia.

Both sex/gender and socioeconomic differences have been reported in the prevalence of modifiable risk factors for dementia. However, it remains unclear whether the associations between modifiable risk factors for dementia and incident dementia differ by sex/gender or socioeconomic status. This study aimed to investigate sex/gender and socioeconomic differences in the associations of modifiable risk factors with incident dementia using a life-course perspective.

Mapping of machine learning approaches for description, prediction, and causal inference in the social and health sciences.

Machine learning (ML) methodology used in the social and health sciences needs to fit the intended research purposes of description, prediction, or causal inference. This paper provides a comprehensive, systematic meta-mapping of research questions in the social and health sciences to appropriate ML approaches by incorporating the necessary requirements to statistical analysis in these disciplines. We map the established classification into description, prediction, counterfactual prediction, and causal structural learning to common research goals, such as estimating prevalence of adverse social or health outcomes, predicting the risk of an event, and identifying risk factors or causes of adverse outcomes, and explain common ML performance metrics.

Region of birth differences in healthcare navigation and optimisation: the interplay of racial discrimination and socioeconomic position.

Background: While a large body of research has documented socioeconomic and migrant inequities in the effective use of healthcare services, the reasons underlying such inequities are yet to be fully understood. This study assesses the interplay between racial discrimination and socioeconomic position, as conceptualised by Bourdieu, and their contributions to healthcare navigation and optimisation.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey in Luxembourg we collected data from individuals with wide-ranging migration and socioeconomic profiles.

Prevalence of dementia in Latin America and Caribbean countries: Systematic review and meta-analyses exploring age, sex, rurality, and education as possible determinants.

Background: Studies have shown that the prevalence of dementia in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) may be higher than in high-income countries. Thus, we sought to systematically analyse the prevalence of dementia and explore possible drivers that lead to this disparity in LAC countries.

Method: We searched Pubmed, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Lilacs, and SciELO for studies on dementia in LAC countries published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.