Self-harm in the very old one year later: has anything changed?

Objectives: To follow-up a cohort of older people who self-harmed, their carer, and general practitioner (GP) and examine their reflections on the self-harm, care experiences, and outcomes.

Design: Qualitative in-depth interviews.

Setting: Two teaching hospitals and associated community services.

Corticosteroids and Regional Variations in Thickness of the Human Cerebral Cortex across the Lifespan.

Exposures to life stressors accumulate across the lifespan, with possible impact on brain health. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms mediating age-related changes in brain structure. We use a lifespan sample of participants (n = 21 251; 4-97 years) to investigate the relationship between the thickness of cerebral cortex and the expression of the glucocorticoid- and the mineralocorticoid-receptor genes (NR3C1 and NR3C2, respectively), obtained from the Allen Human Brain Atlas.

Mild Cognitive Impairment and Caregiver Burden: A 3-Year-Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is common, affecting 10%-35% of people over 65, and poses unique challenges for patients and their caregivers. Comparatively little research has examined caregiver burden in this population, with longitudinal research, in particular, lacking. We examined caregiver burden in a sample of people with MCI over 3 years.

The psychological health of 207 near-centenarians (95-99) and centenarians from the Sydney Centenarian Study.

Objective: While near-centenarians (95-99) and centenarians are the fastest growing sectors of the population in many countries, few studies have investigated their psychological health. We aimed to compare levels of psychological distress and life satisfaction in individuals aged 95 or above (95+) with younger age groups and identify the factors associated with psychological distress and life satisfaction in near-centenarians and centenarians.

Methods: We assessed the physical, cognitive, social and psychological health of 207 participants aged 95+ in the Sydney Centenarian Study.

Author Correction: Study of 300,486 individuals identifies 148 independent genetic loci influencing general cognitive function.

Christina M. Lill, who contributed to analysis of data, was inadvertently omitted from the author list in the originally published version of this article. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the article.

Injury-related hospitalisation in community-dwelling older people across the cognitive spectrum: A population based study.

Objectives: To describe the injury profile, hospitalisation rates and health outcomes for older people with cognitive impairment and to determine whether these differ from those with normal cognition.

Methods: Participants were 867 community-dwelling 70-90 year olds enrolled in the population-based longitudinal Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (MAS). Participant's cognitive status was classified as normal, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia at baseline, then 2, 4 and 6 years' follow-up.

The Vascular Behavioral and Cognitive Disorders criteria for vascular cognitive disorders: a validation study.

Background And Purpose: The Vascular Behavioral and Cognitive Disorders (VASCOG) criteria for vascular cognitive disorders were published in 2014, but their concurrent and predictive validity have not been examined.

Methods: Participants (N = 165, aged 49-86 years) were from Sydney Stroke Study, a longitudinal study of post-stroke cognitive impairment and dementia. Diagnoses using the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - Association Internationale pour la Recherché et l'Enseignement en Neurosciences (NINDS-AIREN), the Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostic and Treatment Centers (ADDTC) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV), criteria for vascular dementia (VaD) were made by consensus at multidisciplinary case conferences.

Plasma lipidome variation during the second half of the human lifespan is associated with age and sex but minimally with BMI.

Recent advances in mass spectrometry-based techniques have inspired research into lipidomics, a subfield of '-omics', which aims to identify and quantify large numbers of lipids in biological extracts. Although lipidomics is becoming increasingly popular as a screening tool for understanding disease mechanisms, it is largely unknown how the lipidome naturally varies by age and sex in healthy individuals. We aimed to identify cross-sectional associations of the human lipidome with 'physiological' ageing, using plasma from 100 subjects with an apolipoprotein E (APOE) E3/E3 genotype, and aged between 56 to 100 years.

Exceptional Longevity and Polygenic Risk for Cardiovascular Health.

Studies investigating exceptionally long-lived (ELL) individuals, including genetic studies, have linked cardiovascular-related pathways, particularly lipid and cholesterol homeostasis, with longevity. This study explored the genetic profiles of ELL individuals (cases: n = 294, 95⁻106 years; controls: n = 1105, 55⁻65 years) by assessing their polygenic risk scores (PRS) based on a genome wide association study (GWAS) threshold of < 5 × 10. PRS were constructed using GWAS summary data from two exceptional longevity (EL) analyses and eight cardiovascular-related risk factors (lipids) and disease (myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, stroke) analyses.

Integrated care for adults with dementia and other cognitive disorders.

The importance of better care integration is emphasized in many national dementia plans. The inherent complexity of organizing care for people with dementia provides both the justification for improving care integration and the challenges to achieving it. The prevention, detection, and early diagnosis of cognitive disorders mainly resides in primary care, but how this is best integrated within the range of disorders that primary care clinicians are expected to screen is unclear.

Evaluating the Impact of the Dementia Care in Hospitals Program (DCHP) on Hospital-Acquired Complications: Study Protocol.

Despite the increasing number of older people, many with cognitive impairment (CI), in hospitals, there is yet to be an evaluation of hospital-wide interventions improving the management of those with CI. In hospitalized patients with CI, there are likely to be associations between increased complications that impact on outcomes, length of stay, and costs. This prospective study will evaluate the effectiveness of an established hospital CI support program on patient outcomes, patient quality of life, staff awareness of CI, and carer satisfaction.

Correction: Dose response of the 16p11.2 distal copy number variant on intracranial volume and basal ganglia.

Prior to and following the publication of this article the authors noted that the complete list of authors was not included in the main article and was only present in Supplementary Table 1. The author list in the original article has now been updated to include all authors, and Supplementary Table 1 has been removed. All other supplementary files have now been updated accordingly.

Dietary Patterns and Cognitive Health in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

While the role of diet and nutrition in cognitive health and prevention of dementia in older adults has attracted much attention, the efficacy of different dietary patterns remains uncertain. Previous reviews have mainly focused on the Mediterranean diet, but either omitted other dietary patterns, lacked more recent studies, were based on cross-sectional studies, or combined older and younger populations. We followed PRISMA guidelines, and examined the efficacy of current research from randomized controlled trials and cohort studies on the effects of different dietary patterns.

Carer insights into self-harm in the very old: A qualitative study.

Objective: To examine the insights of carers to better understand self-harm in their older relatives.

Methods: An in-depth interview was conducted with the nominated relative/friend (carer) of a person over 80 who had self-harmed within the last month. Carer interpretation and experience of the self-harm and clinical care were explored qualitatively.

Comparison of hospitalised trends, treatment cost and health outcomes of fall-related hip fracture for people aged ≥ 65 years living in residential aged care and the community.

Unlabelled: This study compared hip fracture rates and health outcomes of older people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) to the community. The RACF resident age-standardised hospitalisation rate was five times higher than the community rate and declining. RACF residents experience overall worse health outcomes and survival post-hip fracture.

Subjective cognitive decline and rates of incident Alzheimer's disease and non-Alzheimer's disease dementia.

Introduction: In this multicenter study on subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in community-based and memory clinic settings, we assessed the (1) incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-AD dementia and (2) determinants of progression to dementia.

Methods: Eleven cohorts provided 2978 participants with SCD and 1391 controls. We estimated dementia incidence and identified risk factors using Cox proportional hazards models.

Approaches to Deprescribing Psychotropic Medications for Changed Behaviours in Long-Term Care Residents Living with Dementia.

Psychotropic medications have a high risk of serious adverse events and small effect size for changed behaviours for people with dementia. Non-pharmacological approaches are recommended as first-line treatment for changed behaviours, yet psychotropic medications remain highly prevalent in long-term aged care settings. This narrative review describes the current evidence regarding deprescribing psychotropic medications for people with dementia in long-term care.

Validity of the Mediterranean Diet and Culinary Index (MediCul) for Online Assessment of Adherence to the 'Traditional' Diet and Aspects of Cuisine in Older Adults.

The Mediterranean diet is associated with multiple health benefits. Yet, no tool has been specifically developed to assess adherence to the 'traditional' Mediterranean diet and cuisine within a Western cohort, and validated for online use. We tested the reliability and validity of online administration of the Mediterranean Diet and Culinary Index (MediCul) among middle-aged and older adults.

Cognitive screening test in primary care: cut points for low education.

Objective: To establish the diagnostic accuracy of the Brazilian version of the General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG-Br) compared to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in individuals with low educational level.

Methods: Ninety-three patients (≥ 60 years old) from Brazilian primary care units provided sociodemographic, cognitive, and functional data. Receiver operating characteristics, areas under the curve (AUC) and logistic regressions were conducted.

Maintain Your Brain: Protocol of a 3-Year Randomized Controlled Trial of a Personalized Multi-Modal Digital Health Intervention to Prevent Cognitive Decline Among Community Dwelling 55 to 77 Year Olds.

Background: Maintain Your Brain (MYB) is a randomized controlled trial of an online multi-modal lifestyle intervention targeting modifiable dementia risk factors with its primary aim being to reduce cognitive decline in an older age cohort.

Methods: MYB aims to recruit 8,500 non-demented community dwelling 55 to 77 year olds from the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study in New South Wales, Australia. Participants will be screened for risk factors related to four modules that comprise the MYB intervention: physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and cognitive training.

The Association between Social Engagement, Loneliness, and Risk of Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

It has been reported that social engagement may be associated with dementia risk. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LILACS, Biomed Central, Scopus, and Web of Science from January 2012 - May 2017, supplemented by extraction from previous reviews. We included cohort and case-control studies examining the association between social engagement or loneliness and dementia risk, pooling data using a random-effects model.