Extended genome-wide association study employing the African genome resources panel identifies novel susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's disease in individuals of African ancestry.

Introduction: Despite a two-fold risk, individuals of African ancestry have been underrepresented in Alzheimer's disease (AD) genomics efforts.

Methods: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of 2,903 AD cases and 6,265 controls of African ancestry. Within-dataset results were meta-analyzed, followed by functional genomics analyses.

Resilience in the first year of surviving a stroke in Nigeria.

Objectives: There is a knowledge gap on resilience and its impact on mental health of Africans who survive a stroke. We describe the trajectory of psychological resilience and its association with depression and quality of life (QoL) across the first poststroke year in Nigeria.

Method: Prospective observational study of 150 survivors of a first ever stroke.

The 2022 symposium on dementia and brain aging in low- and middle-income countries: Highlights on research, diagnosis, care, and impact.

Two of every three persons living with dementia reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The projected increase in global dementia rates is expected to affect LMICs disproportionately. However, the majority of global dementia care costs occur in high-income countries (HICs), with dementia research predominantly focusing on HICs.

Extended genome-wide association study employing the African Genome Resources Panel identifies novel susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's Disease in individuals of African ancestry.

Introduction: Despite a two-fold increased risk, individuals of African ancestry have been significantly underrepresented in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) genomics efforts.

Methods: GWAS of 2,903 AD cases and 6,265 cognitive controls of African ancestry. Within-dataset results were meta-analyzed, followed by gene-based and pathway analyses, and analysis of RNAseq and whole-genome sequencing data.

A locus at 19q13.31 significantly reduces the ApoE ε4 risk for Alzheimer's Disease in African Ancestry.

African descent populations have a lower Alzheimer disease risk from ApoE ε4 compared to other populations. Ancestry analysis showed that the difference in risk between African and European populations lies in the ancestral genomic background surrounding the ApoE locus (local ancestry). Identifying the mechanism(s) of this protection could lead to greater insight into the etiology of Alzheimer disease and more personalized therapeutic intervention.

Mild anxiety and depression disorders: Unusual reactions to COVID-19 lockdown in caregivers of older adults attending a psychogeriatric clinic in Southwest Nigeria.

Background: Many sub-Saharan African countries have fragile healthcare systems and the mental health care of older adults is in a precarious state. The lockdown that accompanied COVID-19 infection was another monumental event.

Objective: This study examined the effect of the restriction and lockdown on the mental health of the caregivers of older patients attending a psychogeriatric clinic in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Dementia in Africa: Current evidence, knowledge gaps, and future directions.

In tandem with the ever-increasing aging population in low and middle-income countries, the burden of dementia is rising on the African continent. Dementia prevalence varies from 2.3% to 20.

Prestroke cognitive decline in africans: Prevalence, predictors and association with poststroke dementia.

Objectives: Pre-existing cognitive decline is a risk factor for stroke onset and poststroke dementia. There is a knowledge gap on prestroke cognitive decline in indigenous Africans. We estimated prevalence and predictors of prestroke cognitive decline, as well as its association with poststroke dementia at one year in Nigerian survivors of a first ever stroke.

New Onset Poststroke Dementia at one Year in Africans.

Background: There is limited information on new onset poststroke dementia (NPSD) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We estimated incidence, cumulative incidence, risk factors and outcome of NPSD at 1 year in Nigerian survivors of a first-ever stroke.

Methods: Hospital-based prospective observational study.

Cognitive decline before and after a first-ever stroke in Africans.

Objectives: There is a knowledge gap on the impact of pre-existing cognitive decline on poststroke decline in indigenous Africans. We describe the trajectories of domain-specific cognitive and activities of daily life (ADL) functioning across the first year of stroke in Nigerians with pre-existing cognitive decline.

Materials And Methods: Prospective observational study.

The Independent Association of Prestroke Psychiatric Symptoms and Acute Phase Delirium with Poststroke Mortality at One Year in Nigeria.

Background: Undetected acute phase delirium contributes to high poststroke mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The present study adds to existing literature by examining the association of prestroke psychiatric symptoms with poststroke mortality at 3 and 12 months in Nigeria.

Methods: A prospective observational study with repeated delirium assessments conducted using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM).

Prevalence, predictors, and prognoses of prestroke neuropsychiatric symptoms at 3 months poststroke.

Objectives: Prior neuropsychiatric disturbances are risk factors for stroke. There is a knowledge gap on the predictors of prestroke psychopathology, as well as their association with stroke outcomes in survivors living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We estimated prevalence, predictors, and association of prestroke neuropsychiatric symptoms with poststroke depression (PSD), disability, and mortality.

Different Cognitive and Functional Outcomes in Attenuated and Full Delirium Syndromes Among Recent Stroke Survivors.

Background: Very little is known about the outcomes of poststroke delirium in relation to its symptom spectrum. We investigated the 3-months cognitive and functional outcomes of attenuated (ADS) and full delirium syndromes in Nigerian survivors of first ever stroke.

Methods: A prospective observational study with repeated assessments conducted in the first week of stroke using the confusion assessment method.

Cognitive, Functional, and Mortality Outcomes of Attenuated Delirium Syndrome in Stroke Survivors.

Objectives: There is a knowledge gap on the prognostic significance of subsyndromes of delirium. We describe the association of poststroke attenuated delirium syndrome (ADS) with cognitive, functional, and mortality outcomes at 3 months.

Methods: A longitudinal observational study in which repeated assessments for delirium symptoms were conducted in the first week of stroke using the confusion assessment method.

How valuable are ecopsychosocial interventions in prevention and treatment of dementia?

Dementia is a disorder that arouses major public health interest and concern. It has been projected that there will be a global increase in the number of people affected from about 46.8million in 2018 to 131million by 2050; global cost of care for 2015 was put at US$818 billion (Prince et al.

Low education and lack of spousal relationship are associated with dementia in older adults with diabetes mellitus in Nigeria.

Background: The relationship between dementia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in older adults is well established in the literature. However, there have been few studies on this relationship in older adults living in low- and middle-income countries, and most demographic projections predict that older adult population will increase substantially in these regions by 2050.

Methods: In this study, older adults with T2DM attending a tertiary health facility were examined and compared with community-dwelling older adults without T2DM.

Stroke severity predicts poststroke delirium and its association with dementia: Longitudinal observation from a low income setting.

Objective: The effect of delirium on stroke outcome has not been quantified in sub-Saharan Africa. We investigated the prevalence of delirium occurring within one week of stroke in Nigerian survivors and its association with dementia and mortality at 3months.

Methods: Delirium was ascertained after repeated assessments within one week of stroke using the Confusion Assessment Method.

Statin Use, Incident Dementia and Alzheimer Disease in Elderly African Americans.

Objective: To investigate the association between statin use, incident dementia, and Alzheimer disease (AD) in a prospective elderly African American cohort.

Design: Two stage design with a screening interview followed by a comprehensive in-home assessment conducted over an eight-year period. Diagnoses of incident AD and dementia were made by consensus.

Genetic Influences on Plasma Homocysteine Levels in African Americans and Yoruba Nigerians.

Plasma homocysteine, a metabolite involved in key cellular methylation processes seems to be implicated in cognitive functions and cardiovascular health with its high levels representing a potential modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias. A better understanding of the genetic factors regulating homocysteine levels, particularly in non-white populations, may help in risk stratification analyses of existing clinical trials and may point to novel targets for homocysteine-lowering therapy. To identify genetic influences on plasma homocysteine levels in individuals with African ancestry, we performed a targeted gene and pathway-based analysis using a priori biological information and then to identify new association performed a genome-wide association study.

Psychiatric disorders and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among a population of HIV-infected adults in Nigeria.

Psychiatric disorders are common among people living with HIV in Nigeria. Adherence is necessary to optimise the outcome of antiretroviral therapy. In this study, we aimed to identify associations between antiretroviral adherence, measured by one-week and one-month self-reported missed doses, and psychiatric illness in a cohort previously assessed for psychiatric disorders using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview.

Depression in elderly people living in rural Nigeria and its association with perceived health, poverty, and social network.

Background: The relationship between late-life depression, poverty, social network, and perceived health is little studied in Africa; the magnitude of the problem remains largely unknown and there is an urgent need to research into this area.

Methods: We interviewed community dwelling elderly persons of two rural areas in Nigeria using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-30). Those who scored 11 and above on the GDS-30 were further interviewed using Geriatric Mental State Schedule (GMSS).

Dementia incidence declined in African-Americans but not in Yoruba.

Introduction: To compare dementia incidence of African-American and Yoruba cohorts aged ≥70 years enrolled in 1992 and 2001.

Methods: African-Americans residing in Indianapolis and Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria without dementia were enrolled in 1992 and 2001 and evaluated every 2-3 years until 2009. The cohorts consist of 1440 African-Americans, 1774 Yoruba in 1992 and 1835 African-Americans and 1895 Yoruba in the 2001 cohorts aged ≥70 years.

The Adolescents' Psychosocial Functioning Inventory (APFI): scale development and initial validation using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

Most of the existing measures of psychosocial functioning among adolescents are developed outside Lower-middle-income countries (LMIC). Measures relevant to the LMIC setting will provide opportunity to assess the functioning of adolescents in these settings based on their background or context. The Adolescents' Psychosocial Functioning Inventory (APFI) which addresses relevant challenges and expectations of adolescents in the LMIC settings was developed to bridge this gap in knowledge.